July 12, 2018 

City News Service 

 

A bail review hearing is scheduled today for a 22- year-old South Los Angeles man charged with robbing an undercover U.S. Secret Service agent at gunpoint under the pretense of selling him counterfeit money.

 

Tyre Jordan “Reckless” Simmons was among two men named in a six-count federal indictment alleging a transaction involving counterfeit currency and the armed robbery of the undercover agent, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 

Simmons and Richard Taron “Profit” Henderson face charges of conspiracy, robbery, assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon and using a firearm during a crime of violence. Henderson is additionally charged with dealing counterfeit money, and Simmons is accused of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to prosecutors.

 

Simmons, who was convicted of robbery in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2016, is expected to ask U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael R. Wilner that he be granted bail pending trial.

 

The indictment, filed in Los Angeles federal court, details an incident last Oct. 18 in which Henderson allegedly sold 250 counterfeit $20 bills as part of a Secret Service investigation into the trafficking of counterfeit money.

 

As the probe continued, Henderson allegedly negotiated a deal to sell $40,000 in counterfeit money. However, the deal was a pretense to rob the undercover agent who was posing as a buyer of the bogus currency, according to the indictment.

 

On March 26, Henderson arranged the meeting in South Los Angeles and prepared for it by stuffing clothes into a duffel bag to make it appear that the bag was filled with counterfeit bills, according to the indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court.

 

Henderson dispatched Simmons to meet with the agent. During the meeting, Simmons allegedly produced a Taurus 9mm handgun, pointed it in the face of the undercover agent and robbed him of $4,500 in genuine United States currency and the keys to the undercover Secret Service vehicle. In committing the robbery, Henderson and Simmons put the life of the undercover agent in jeopardy by using a dangerous weapon, federal prosecutors allege.

 

If convicted as charged, Henderson would face up to 20 years behind bars on the counterfeit money charge. Both defendants would face up to 50 years for the charges related to the alleged robbery, plus a mandatory seven-year sentence related to the use of the firearm.

Further, Simmons would face up to 10 years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Category: News