By Shavonne Walker
shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Two Charlotte men remain in the Rowan County jail charged with possession of counterfeit money following a Dec. 12 traffic stop on Interstate 85, according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.

Ramel Craig Simpson, 31, was charged with possession of counterfeit tools and failure to appear out of Randolph County. Jermaine Lamont Walls, 26, faces misdemeanor larceny out of Mecklenburg County, possession of a controlled substance Schedule I and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both remain in the Rowan County Detention Center, each under a $102,000 secured bond.

The crime reduction team stopped a black Nissan Murano traveling 86 mph in a 70 mph in the southbound lane of I-85 near the Julian Road off-ramp. The vehicle had a fictitious year sticker on the license plate, said Deputy Chief David Ramsey.

The officer requested a K-9 to conduct an “open-air” sniff and the dog alerted on an odor of narcotics. The officer found $1,700 in counterfeit $100 bills, all with the same serial number. As Walls was getting out of the vehicle, a syringe fell from his lap onto the ground, Ramsey said.

The officers seized one gram of heroin, two pipes and copper steel wool, two cellphones, and various receipts. According to Capt. John Sifford, the men had been traveling along I-85 using the fake bills to buy merchandise in various stores.