Marion County Sheriff’s Office Property Crimes detectives arrested Summerfield resident 29-year-old Demetrius Laneal Martin for using counterfeit money to purchase items from private sellers. On Nov. 13, a female victim met Martin in the parking lot of a local business to sell an XBOX One and three games for $300. The victim said that Martin responded to her ad on “Offer Up,” a web application where individuals post items to buy and sell. Martin gave the victim six $50 bills for the XBOX, which the victim later discovered were counterfeit after she attempted to use the money to purchase items at a Walmart store.
A few days after illegally purchasing the XBOX, Martin posted the item for sale on the Ocala Yard Sale Facebook page. A computer search revealed that Martin also sold the games he illegally purchased with the XBOX to a local retail store. On Nov. 30, officers with the Belleview Police Department contacted MCSO detectives and informed them they had Martin in custody for a separate counterfeit fraud incident. The bills Martin used for that transaction were an exact match for the ones used to defraud the victim of her XBOX in the MCSO case. Martin was also positively identified as the suspect by the victim during a photo line-up.
Martin was arrested and charged with fraud-uttering a false instrument and grand theft in the MCSO case. He is being charged separately by the Belleview Police Department in their case as well. Martin was booked at the Marion County Jail.
