Uttering Forged Instruments and Forgery
Forgery is another of the many White Collar Crimes that brings serious penalties including prison time and heavy fines. Although forgery is often thought of in the context of signing someone else’s name without permission, the reality is that forgery as defined under Nevada Law encompasses more than just signing someone else’s name.
Under Nevada law, forgery is the “false making, counterfeiting, and alteration, erasure or obliteration of a genuine instrument …, the false making or counterfeiting of the signature of a party or witness …, and the placing or connecting together with intent to defraud, of different parts or the whole of several genuine instruments.”
In other words, any person who passes or attempts to pass a forged or false instrument with the intent to defraud another while knowing that the instrument is false is guilty of forgery.
Forgery charges are often times charged by the District Attorney is addition to crimes of creating fake IDs as part of Identity Theft charges. Forgery can also be charged in conjunction with Burglary or other Theft crimes.
Penalties for Forgery
In cases involving the forgery of deeds, wills, checks, contracts, or court documents, a conviction will result in a class D felony and an individual can face up to four years in prison and fines up to $5,000.
You can also be charged with a class C felony just for knowingly possessing or receiving forged documents with the intent to defraud another. This means that if you are in possession of a forged document because you intend to use it in furtherance of another crime, but never actually commit the intended crime, you can still be charged with a class C felony just for possessing the forged documents.
As a class C felony, a person convicted could face up to 5 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.
Forgery is also a crime of dishonesty and can have negative immigration consequences on individuals who are seeking legal residence in the United States.
If you or someone you know has been charged with a forgery offense, let the lawyers at The Wright Law Group, P.C. help you. Our attorneys have more than 25 years of combined criminal defense experience. Let us help you. Call us now at (702) 405-0001 to arrange a consultation.