Texas woman gets 6 months in prison for payroll check scam

A woman who participated in a forged check scheme was sentenced to six months in prison Friday and ordered to make good on the bogus payroll checks.

U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings ruled, however, that the federal prison sentence for Shannon Renee Morgan, 33, must run concurrently with any sentences she would receive if convicted on two pending state felony cases.

She faced a maximum prison term of 10 years, and a possible fine of $250,000.

Morgan and Richard Reed McDaniel were named together in 15 counts of a 27-count federal grand jury indictment last year for conspiring to make and pass counterfeit checks in the names of several area businesses.

According to court documents, McDaniel created the forgeries and he and Morgan both cashed the checks.

Morgan pleaded guilty in November to one count of passing forged checks. She passed four checks totalling $1,708.24 last summer, according to the documents.

According to Lubbock County, Texas, court records, Morgan is also facing two counts of fraudulent use or possession of identification information and one count of burglary of a habitation.

No trial date has been set for either case.

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