Rankin County woman sentenced for possessing, passing counterfeit money

RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – A Rankin County woman was sentenced to 12 months and one day in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, for possessing and passing counterfeit currency.

Mary Glassmire Sessums, 43, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Jackson.

According to court documents, authorities in Rankin County identified Sessums and Purvis Dustin Ward as individuals who had been passing counterfeit United States currency in the county.

On November 2, 2019, several residents of Rankin County reported that a man and a woman had been making purchases at garage sales using counterfeit currency.

Pelahatchie police later stopped the suspects and observed what appeared to be counterfeit United States currency in plain view in the vehicle. Sessums and Ward were arrested for possession of counterfeit currency.

Prosecutors said several victims later identified Sessums and Ward as the individuals who fraudulently passed counterfeit United States currency to make purchases.

Rankin County deputies obtained a search warrant for Ward’s residence and located counterfeit currency, uncut sheets of counterfeit currency as well as two computers, three printers, specialty ink and paint, all of which was used to produce counterfeit currency.

Sessums pled guilty on March 13, 2024, to possessing and passing counterfeit currency.

Ward previously pled guilty to one count of making counterfeit currency and one count of possessing and passing counterfeit currency. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. 

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, the Pelahatchie Police Department and the Brandon Police Department.