Fake Boston Transit Pass Suspects Plead Not Guilty

Two Massachusetts residents pleaded not guilty in a case that authorities call the biggest fare-evasion scheme in the history of Boston's transit agency.

Andres Townes was ordered held on $250,000 bail after pleading not guilty in Salem District Court on Friday to charges including larceny. Gloria Escobar was ordered held on $100,000 bail on the same charges. The two lived together in Revere.

Prosecutors say Townes worked at a company that produces passes for the MBTA and created about $4 million worth of counterfeit Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority passes that were sold online at discounted rates. Investigators say Escobar helped deliver them to buyers.

Authorities say the fake ones were virtually undetectable.

Townes' lawyer says his client didn't act alone. Escobar's lawyer says she got "caught up" in the scheme.

More: