A Hailey man accused of forging and cashing checks stolen from the Wood River Fiber Arts Guild pleaded guilty Monday to a single count of felony grand theft.
Seth I. Allen, 19, entered his plea in Blaine County 5th District Court in accord with a plea agreement with the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. In exchange for his guilty plea, the prosecuting attorney's office agreed to have three other felony charges dismissed.
Allen was originally charged in October with two counts of grand theft and two counts of forgery. A probable-cause affidavit filed by Hailey police alleges that Allen stole the checks from his mother, a member of the guild, in July and wrote two checks to himself, one for $200 and the other for $800, and cashed them at Bank of America in Hailey.
At Monday's court hearing, Judge Robert J. Elgee advised Allen that grand theft is punishable in Idaho by up to 14 years in prison. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback said he will recommend at sentencing that Allen be given a withheld judgment, a procedure wherein the conviction can be removed from Allen's record upon successful completion of probation.
According to court records, Allen has slipped up on probation before. He has two probation violations from misdemeanor convictions in 2008 for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and is currently serving time in the Blaine County jail for the second violation.
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Elgee advised Allen that by pleading guilty to a felony, he would lose his right to vote, his right to hold public office and his right to possess a gun.
Allen pleaded guilty anyway.
"I cashed a check that I shouldn't have cashed," Allen said. "I made that check out."
Elgee scheduled sentencing for March 29 and ordered a mental health assessment and substance abuse evaluation to be conducted prior to sentencing.
"He's never had any kind of treatment to help him with his anger, his depression, his behavior towards society," public defender Cheri Hicks told the court.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Seth I. Alle
