Woman implicated in Iowa County scheme faces forgery charge in Johnson County

JOHNSON COUNTY - A North Liberty woman accused of identity theft, vehicle burglary and trespassing charges in Iowa County has been arrested in Johnson County for forgery.

According to a Johnson County Sheriff's Office criminal complaint, in Nov. 2014, 46-year-old Cheri L. Sells wrote checks at multiple Johnson County businesses using the victim's personal and business checks. Authorities said Sells forged the name of the victim - who is not identified in the criminal complaint - on the checks.

Sells' fraudulent purchases total more than $1,000, according to the sheriff's office.

The Iowa County Sheriff's Office said late last month that Sells has been part of an ongoing investigation there. Sells is accused of forging a check on Nov. 20 for more than $1,000, resulting in an arrest for identity theft. At the time, Sells was told to stay away from the victim and his family, according to Iowa County Sheriff's Office Lt. Tim Walters.

Walters said a vehicle burglary was committed on Dec. 11 and financial documents were taken from the vehicle, which belonged to a relative of the identity theft victim. While authorities didn't have enough evidence to implicate Sells in the vehicle burglary at the time, that changed after she allegedly entered an Iowa County residence on Jan. 24 and left items - including items taken during the vehicle burglary - in the home. The home belongs to another relative of the original identity theft victim, Walters said.

Authorities said Walters left those documents in the residence in an attempt to exonerate herself from the identity theft charges. Instead, police used them to charge her with burglary of a motor vehicle.

'I didn't have a good case for that until she committed this trespass, where she left items in that relative's house,” Walters said last month.

Sells was arrested in North Liberty on Jan. 29 on a warrant for the Iowa County charges, but she was first taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment. She was booked on the forgery charge on Feb. 9, according to jail records. She also faces one count of probation violation.

Forgery is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com