A man who was involved in a conspiracy that included dozens of counterfeit check pleaded guilty this week in federal court. 42 year old Shannon Western Fields of Springfield pleaded guilty, admitting that he and others stole mail from individuals and businesses in order to obtain checks and personal identity information. They purchased blank check stock and magnetic ink from office supply stores to create counterfeit business checks. Those involved in the conspiracy created checks payable to themselves, or used stolen identity information to create counterfeit identification such as Social Security cards and Missouri driver’s licenses, to cash the checks. In addition to Fields, 11 others were listed as payee’s on the forged counterfeit checks. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Fields must pay $21-thousand-279-dollars in restitution to four banks. Field could be sentenced to as much as 30 years in prison without parole. Sentencing will be set at a later date.

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI