September 25, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
An Alexandria businessman appeared in DeKalb County Criminal Court Tuesday where he entered a plea to two counts of forgery.
50-year-old Stein Edward Prichard of Brush Creek Road, Brush Creek, manager of Prichard’s Foods received a two-year sentence in each case to run concurrently and all suspended to judicial diversion probation. He must pay restitution of $3,000.
Prichard was indicted on four counts of forgery, but he entered a plea to two counts. The offense dates were March 30, 2023 and April 12, 2023. If all conditions of probation have been met after the first year of the sentence, Prichard can petition the court to terminate the balance of the sentence, and the state will not oppose it.
Sheriff Patrick Ray said that Prichard was accused of having altered checks of store customers, changing the actual amounts to much higher amounts.
“People would come into the store and buy goods and would write a check and then he allegedly would change the amount of the check and run it through the bank and used the proceeds for his benefit,” said Sheriff Ray.
“We got a report at the sheriff’s department on December 5 about an altered check and found it was altered at Prichard’s Foods. We started an investigation with assistance of the District Attorney’s office. They assigned an investigator to help us. A total of four subpoenas were issued on business records of the store. We found one victim had three altered checks while there was one altered check on another victim That’s what the investigation revealed,” said Sheriff Ray