Shiela Rae Brown, 44, Garrison, was convicted in Morrison County District Court, Feb. 8, of felony theft and check fraud from two separate incidents.
The fraud charge came from a January 2016 incident, where Brown and Gabriel Iserman of Onamia, who has been convicted of check fraud for his role in the incident, attempted to defraud a Pierz bank.
The check forgery began when Iserman opened a checking account at a Pierz bank, and deposited $50, Jan. 15.
The following day, Brown pulled through the drive-through and requested to deposit a $400 check into Iserman’s account.
The day after that, both Iserman and Brown came back to the bank drive -through and requested and received $400 from Iserman’s account.
On Jan. 19, Iserman and Brown came back through the drive-through and asked the teller to cash a $700 check, requesting $600 in cash and the rest deposited into his account.
Iserman and Brown were both identified by their driver’s licenses and through bank security video.
The person that had written the checks cashed by Brown and Iserman said that the checks were stolen and the signature was forged.
The victim signed affidavits of forgery, and the criminal complaint states that “it is readily apparent” that the victim’s signatures “bear no resemblance to the signature on the checks that were cashed,” by the defendants.
In the theft case, Brown did not return a rented saw from a business.
On April 24, 2016, Pierz police officers were notified of a rental property theft.
The owner of a local business in Pierz reported a theft of rental property to the Pierz Police Department.
On April 22, a male and female rented a cement saw and a diamond blade worth $1,465.
The person that signed the rental agreement identified herself as Brown.
The store owner said neither the saw or blade had been returned.
The store also sent a notice to Brown for a demand of payment and return of the property to the address Brown provided, but had not received a response.
Brown initially pleaded not guilty to both charges, before changing her pleas as part of a plea agreement.
Brown was sentenced to five years of supervised probation, 271 days in prison and was given credit for 271 days served, and fined $1,735, including restitution.