Check scheme puts man in prison

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- A Farrell man accused of being part of a bogus check scheme in the western Pennsylvania-Youngstown area will serve 27 months in a federal prison.
Charles R. Harris, 32, of French Street, Farrell, was sentenced in U.S District Court in Cleveland this week.
In addition to the prison time, he must serve three years' probation, pay $200 in special assessments to the federal crime fund and make $117,000 in restitution to eight different banks, said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Moroney, who prosecuted the case.
Harris has been in custody since April, when he and six others were indicted in the case.
He pleaded guilty to one count each of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, Moroney said.
Authorities said the check scheme ran between April 8, 1998, and late January 1999.
Harris and Lynette Frieson, 35, who was also living on French Street at that time, are accused of obtaining sample checks from various businesses and organizations and using them to produce counterfeit checks on a computer.
They are also accused of helping co-conspirators secure false identification documents to use in passing the bad checks.
Youngstown State University was one of those victimized in the scheme.
FBI investigated
FBI agents were called into the case after local authorities learned the crime crossed the state line. Agents raided Harris' business in Sharon, a clothing store called Chuck and the Whole 9 Yards, and three local residences in January 1999, seizing computer records, bogus checks and other material.
Frieson has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and is awaiting sentencing, Moroney said.
He said other defendants in the case are:
ULori M. Bryant, 31, of Market Street, Farrell: awaiting sentencing on a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
UBarbara J. McGhee, 61, of Hunters Ridge, Brownsville, Pa.: sentenced Sept. 18 to six months' home confinement to be followed by 21/2 years' probation on a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
UJoyce E. Green, 43, of Hunters Ridge, Brownsville: charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud but signed a pre-plea agreement that will allow a pre-sentence investigation to be done to determine her sentencing status before she enters a plea.
UPhilip Wells , 30, of Emerson Avenue, Farrell: charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and signed the same pre-plea agreement as Green.
UCraig S. Ison, 39, of Baldwin Avenue, Sharon: charged with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud but his case is on hold because he is being held in a Maryland prison on an 18-month sentence on a recent drug conviction there. Federal officials are going through the legal procedures to be have him brought to Cleveland for prosecution.