3 Arrested in Connection to Norman Counterfeiting Ring

By Gan Matthews, NEWS 9

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- An investigation by the U.S. Secret Service and the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office has broken up a million dollar counterfeiting ring.

Authorities have arrested three people, Tina Haberer, Joseph Glass, and Michael Infield, for their alleged role in the scheme. The arrests, plus a search of a hotel room in Norman, turned up stolen credit cards, driver's licenses, counterfeit checks and equipment to manufacture bogus checks.

The operation began to unravel when an officer saw 38-year-old Michael Infield run a red light at the intersection of S.W. 24th Avenue and Brooks Street in Norman. The officer made a routine traffic stop of Infield's car and found several counterfeit checks inside.

"The deputy made attempts to verify that these checks were real and discovered pretty quickly that they were counterfeit," said Cleveland County Undersheriff Rhett Burnett.

That same day, according to court documents, the trail led authorities to 39-year-old Tina Haberer, who had previously been identified by federal authorities as a main suspect in a large check counterfeiting operation in Norman. She was arrested after she allegedly tried to use another woman to pass a counterfeit check at a Walmart in Norman.

When she was arrested Tina Haberer was carrying a key for a room at Norman's Residence Inn. The Secret Service and local authorities made this their next stop.

According to an affidavit, when authorities entered room 111, they found computers, printers, counterfeit checks, check printing paper and other materials used to manufacture checks.

They also noticed a car driving slowly through the complex. After they stopped it, they found that a passenger, 39-year-old Joseph Glass, had a key to the same room, as well as a stolen driver's license, some stolen credit cards, and eight counterfeit checks.

"The successful completion of something that started from a routine traffic stop--there was a potential loss to the people of Cleveland County and these businesses in the neighborhood of a million dollars," Burnett said.

Infield, Glass, and Haberer are now charged with state and federal crimes.

According to a sworn statement, when Tina Haberer was arrested, she was concealing six counterfeit checks in her bra.