NEWPORT-Four men and one woman were arrested Wednesday, Oct. 28, and charged with federal charges related to making and distributing counterfeit money.

Arrested were Joie Lee Warden, 36, of 130 Curry Way, in Del Rio; Charles Wayne Sprouse, 30, of 250 Curry Way, in Del Rio; Robert A. Webber Jr., 26, of 1242 Evans Valley Road, in Newport; Mark Anthony Evans, 28, and Misty Lee McMahan, 34, both of 1500 Susong Cemetery Road, in Newport.

All five were charged with falsely making, forging and counterfeiting obligations of the United States, uttering and possessing counterfeit obligations of the United States, dealing in counterfeit obligations of the United States, and conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, according to a press release by Newport Police Chief Maurice Shults.

The police chief said Wednesday afternoon that Evans, McMahan, and Weber remained in federal custody, and Warden and Sprouse had bonded out.

Shults said Weber was "non-bondable" and would remain in custody.

The press release said, "Over the course of the past several months, at least $5,149 in counterfeit U.S. currency has been confiscated in Newport as part of an ongoing investigation into the inundation of the local economy with counterfeit currency."

It continued, "The bills, ranging from $1 to $100 denominations, have been surfacing in retail businesses, restaurants, motels, and banks."

Det. Lynn Shults has been the lead investigator for the cases that began in July, the release stated.

The investigation has lead to the retrieval of forty-two $100 bills, four $50 bills, twenty-two $20 bills, sixteen $10 bills, twenty-eight $5 bills, and nine $1 bills inside the city limits of Newport.

The police chief said the arrests of Warden and Sprouse after a traffic stop at 2 a.m. on Saturday, led by Cocke County Constable Danny Hartsell and Deputy Sheriff Randall Hartsell from the Cocke County Sheriff's Department, were "a major catalyst" in the arrests made on Wednesday.

Chief Shults was quoted in the release as saying, "I can't say enough about the cooperation between the Newport Police Department, the Cocke County Sheriff's Department, and the United States Secret Service."

The release noted that "over the past several days, Detectives Lynn Shults of the Newport Police Department and Bryan Murr of the Cocke County Sheriff's Department have been comparing, identifying, and cataloging approximately 500 counterfeit bills that total $16,787."