District Attorney Warren Montgomery announced that Stephanie D. Wilson, 55, of Mt. Hermon, was sentenced Wednesday by District Judge William Burris as a habitual offender to 20 years in prison for forgery. Burris found Wilson guilty as charged after she rejected a one-year plea offer.

Wilson has six prior felony convictions: for issuing worthless checks in December 2010, theft in November 2010, attempted possession of a controlled dangerous substance by fraud in November 2010, theft in January 2011, theft of goods in March 2015, and theft in October 2016. She also had a misdemeanor conviction on two counts of theft by fraud in January 2011.

In the most recent incident of forgery, the victim made a complaint to the Franklinton Police Department in March 2018 about checks that had been stolen from her account and cashed with her forged signature. Investigators identified Wilson as the one who cashed the forged checks, which totaled more than $1,300. Wilson initially lied to officers investigating the case and said she was cashing the checks for the victim, but could not explain various discrepancies.

Assistant District Attorney Iain Dover prosecuted the case.