WRIGHT COUNTY, Mo. — A Kansas man accused of attempting to cash a nearly $5,000 forged check at a Wright County bank remains jailed without bond after authorities say he initially provided a false identity.
Adam Lee Witherspoon is charged with forgery in Wright County Circuit Court. Court records show authorities initially identified him as Richard Sheppard, the name appearing on a Pennsylvania driver’s license investigators allege was fraudulent.
According to a probable cause statement filed by Wright County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Foreman, authorities were called to Progressive Ozark Bank at 368 S. Main in Mountain Grove at approximately 2:55 p.m. Aug. 14 after receiving a report that a man had presented an allegedly forged check.
A bank teller told Foreman the check, numbered 3910, was made out for $4,990 and payable to Richard Sheppard. According to the statement, bank employees had been alerted after another check had allegedly been cashed at a Progressive Ozark Bank location in Mountain Grove and another attempt had reportedly been made at the bank’s Mansfield location.
The teller provided Foreman with the Pennsylvania driver’s license presented by the man. Foreman said the photograph on the license matched the man seated in the bank lobby.
When questioned, the man allegedly told Foreman he was a traveling nurse and the check was payment for work he had performed.
Foreman arrested the man after bank employees reported that the check had been flagged as a forgery. A records check of the Pennsylvania driver’s license allegedly failed to confirm that it was valid.
According to the probable cause statement, Foreman later began looking for a maroon vehicle that had reportedly dropped the man off at the bank. A teller told investigators a woman associated with the vehicle was believed to have been involved in the earlier Mansfield incident.
Foreman reported that another officer subsequently stopped a maroon vehicle on U.S. Highway 60. Two women were taken into custody, and officers allegedly recovered several documents and a large amount of money.
The probable cause statement says authorities believed several documents and driver’s licenses recovered during the investigation were forged. A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper was able to identify the two women through fingerprints, according to Foreman.
The man arrested at the bank could not initially be identified through a fingerprint scan. Foreman said his photograph and the Pennsylvania license were sent to the Missouri Information Analysis Center, but investigators had not received information establishing his identity when the probable cause statement was completed.
He was initially booked into the Wright County Jail under the name appearing on the Pennsylvania license.
Court records show the jail contacted the court Aug. 17 with the defendant’s actual name and date of birth. The court then listed Richard Sheppard as an alias for Adam Lee Witherspoon.
At an Aug. 19 bond hearing, the court noted that Witherspoon had been taken into custody in Texas and brought to Missouri with two other individuals. Prosecutors told the court the group allegedly went to three banks with forged documents.
The court record states Witherspoon initially refused to identify himself and had provided the fraudulent Pennsylvania identification. The state opposed setting bond, arguing he had no ties to the area and no place to stay locally.
Witherspoon told the court his criminal record consisted of misdemeanors and said he wanted to return to his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, to make sure his children were cared for.
Judge Lynette B. Veenstra found that no combination of monetary and nonmonetary conditions would reasonably guarantee the safety of the community and Witherspoon’s appearance in court. He was ordered to remain held without bond.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 26 before Veenstra in Wright County Circuit Court.
All charges are allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
