When you are accused of a crime, you need an experienced defense attorney on your side who knows the severity of your situation. Any criminal charge brought against you is a serious matter that should not be handled on your own. As an attorney specializing in white collar criminal defense in Dallas, Henry Wade of The Wade Law Firm, understands both state and federal criminal laws and walks his clients through the entire process of fighting their case, from negotiating pleas, to preparing for trial. With over 20 years of experience in law, Wade has helped defend clients faced with chargers of theft, homicide drug possession and forgery.
What is forgery?
Criminally altering a document in any way to change its authenticity, and then knowingly trying to use that changed document as the genuine original is legally considered forgery.
What are some common examples of forgery?
- If you sign another person’s name to a check without authorization, with the intent of using it for your own purposes
- If you sign a name on the back of another person’s check in order to receive the money for yourself
- Changing the details of a document, such as a deed, and then signing the altered deed and presenting it as an original
- Creating a legal document, like a marriage or death certificate, under someone else’s name or a fabricated name
How will you be charged?
In most instances, forgery is charged on the state level, and each state has its own set of laws and guidelines for persecuting the crime. Even if you were unsuccessful in gaining anything as a result of the forgery, but the intent was still there, you can be charged. If, however, the forged documents are sent via the United States post office, then it can possibly be considered mail fraud, which is a federal crime.
What is mail fraud?
Using the means of the U.S. Postal Service to further a fraudulent scheme, for example, mailing false documents to an insurance company, is considered mail fraud. If charged with the crime you will be indicted by the United States Attorney’s Office and can be forced to pay fines, spend up to 20 years in prison, or both.
What if you are charged with forgery on a state level?
In Texas, if you are in possession of fraudulent documents, or have forged a check, it is considered a state felony, and you can be sentenced to up to two years in prison and fined up to $10,000. It is comparable to theft of something valued $15,000 to $20, 000 and the unauthorized use of a vehicle.
What are “real life” examples of forgery?
Two examples:
- In Manhattan, Jonathan Mattocks was arrested in October 2005 for picking up pay-per-ride MetroCards, which are used to gain access to the city’s subways, bending the magnetic strip that holds the value of the card, and charging riders $1 to pass through the turnstiles using the cards. It was a trait of the cards that, if you bent the magnetic strip, you can get a one-time free ride because the turnstiles could not determine that the card had no value if the strip was tampered with. In April 2009, the New York Times reported that Mattocks would be charged with forgery because he was altering the cards to read that they were still of value, when in fact they weren’t.
- In 1972, the autobiography of Howard Hughes was set for release. Howard Hughes was a multi-millionaire businessman, aviator and acclaimed producer of films like The Outlaw and Scarface, who at that time had not appeared in public in over a decade because of a serious illness that made him too weak. It turned out however, that Hughes did not pen the book, but, Clifford Irving did. Irving had no contact with Hughes or any of his family members, and completely fabricated the entire book. After being convicted of forgery for trying to make a profit by selling the book of someone else life without permission, and disguising himself as Hughes for the purpose of writing the book, Irving was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.
