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Valerie Demarco sentenced to 10 years in Vail Valley forgery scheme

Valerie Demarco will serve 10 years for counterfeiting.
Eagle County Sheriff’s Office

EAGLE — Valerie DeMarco said she and Jabez Parker counterfeited U.S. currency and passed it at Vail Valley retailers.

For that, and because it’s not her first criminal offence, DeMarco was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week on two felony forgery charges.

After her Friday morning, Sept. 21, sentencing appearance before District Court Judge Paul Dunkelman, DeMarco was taken to Teller County, Boulder County and several other jurisdictions to answer to similar charges.



What police say they did

DeMarco was arrested after passing counterfeit bills in Avon retailers.

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DeMarco and Parker allegedly used oven cleaner and other chemicals to strip the ink from small-denomination currency and then used laser printers and reprinted the paper with larger denominations.

So far, Parker has denied any involvement. However, Parker remains in the Eagle County jail for the forgery scheme with DeMarco.

Parker was arrested in Glenwood Springs when police there found the paper from various denominations of bills hanging to dry in his motel room, after the ink had been washed off with oven cleaner and other chemicals and before the paper was reprinted in larger denominations, court records said.

Parker protested that he had no idea the counterfeit bills were hanging in his room to dry.

During one of Parker’s earlier court appearances, Assistant District Attorney Heidi McCollum trotted out arrest warrants from Nebraska, Idaho, Indiana, Garfield County and Avon.

Parker’s criminal career began with a 1996 in conviction in Michigan. Felony firearms possession, carjacking and arson got him 14 years in prison, which explains how he stayed out of trouble between 1996 and 2010.

A 2011 conspiracy conviction in Michigan followed his attempt to sell or introduce contraband into prison.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vaildaily.com.


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