EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) – A St. Louis man who admitted his role in a plot to make and distribute counterfeit currency has been ordered in Illinois to spend three years in federal prison.

Thirty-eight-year-old Lewis Johnson was sentenced Thursday in East St. Louis.

He pleaded guilty in December to a felony count of conspiracy to manufacture, possess and pass counterfeit U.S. currency.

He admitted that along with several others, he used bogus currency to buy vehicles from sellers using Craigslist. The conspirators then would resell the vehicles for actual currency.