Christina Elizabeth Williams, 53, and Louis Anthony Lopez, 40, both believed to be from the San Francisco Bay Area, were arrested in the case, according to a report from the Lakeport Police Department.

At 2 p.m. Wednesday Lakeport Police officers received information regarding a counterfeiting operation occurring in a motel room in the 1100 block of N. Main Street, police said.

The agency said officers and a detective immediately responded and began an investigation and surveillance. At approximately 4 p.m., officers located and arrested Williams and Lopez.

During the investigation at the scene, the police department said officers seized numerous items of evidence including counterfeiting printing plates, counterfeited currency and other evidence of the operation. A suspect vehicle was seized and towed to a Lakeport Police evidence facility for later processing.

Police said that information developed during the initial investigation indicated that the suspects spent several days in the motel room printing counterfeited $100 bills and then traveling to businesses around the county, where they would use the bills to purchase merchandise or prepaid gift cards in amounts of hundreds of dollars.

Williams and Lopez also were both found to have numerous arrest warrants from out-of-area agencies, police said.

Police said the two were booked into the Lake County Correctional Facility on the warrants as well as felony charges including manufacture and possession of counterfeiting plates, possession of counterfeited notes and possession of notes with the intent to defraud.

Due to both subjects’ extensive prior criminal histories and lack of known residence information, officers requested and were granted a bail enhancement to $150,000 on the counterfeiting charges.

Both subjects currently remain in custody, with Lopez’s total bail set at $360,000 and Williams’ bail set at $190,000, police said.

Police said the investigation has been ongoing since Wednesday. Det. Dale Stoebe has been following up on leads at businesses in the county, communicating with agents from the United States Secret Service, who has ultimate responsibility for counterfeiting crimes involving US Currency, and preparing an affidavit for search warrant to process the suspect vehicle that was seized.

That search warrant was served Friday morning and numerous items related to counterfeiting were seized, including paper, ink, washing soap and printing equipment.

This investigation will remain ongoing and the department is asking businesses who may have received counterfeited bills related to these suspects to contact Det. Dale Stoebe at 707-263-5491, Extension 102, or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .