Three people are accused of participating in a forgery scheme that netted $15,000 in furniture, electronics and frozen food.
State police at Greensburg allege Thomas William Richards, 50, of McKeesport, along with his brother, Robert William Richards, 42, and Erica Dawn Mowry, 26, both of Southwest Greensburg, forged signatures of four other people on rental agreements and checks to obtain items from Rentway in Connellsville, Roomful Express in Hempfield Township and Schwan's in Scottdale between July 2005 and February 2006.
Items obtained from Rentway included a 55-inch TV, a home theater system and furniture with a total value of $5,927, according to the affidavits. A sofa, loveseat, table lamp, clock and rocker were among the $4,429 in items obtained from Roomful Express. Police allege Thomas Richards forged 18 checks to obtain $5,322 worth of frozen food through Schwan's home delivery service.
Upon serving a search warrant at a Ruffsdale residence where Thomas Richards was residing at the time, police allege they discovered numerous stolen goods in a bedroom.
"There were bags, closets and dresser drawers full of stolen items from Big Lots, Family Dollar and WOW outlets," police wrote in an affidavit. "A check of the kitchen freezer yielded several hundred dollars of Schwan's frozen food."
Also found at the residence were the big screen TV, sofa, loveseat and coffee tables from Rentway. The affidavit indicates the criminal charges pertain only to the items obtained from Rentway, Roomful Express and Schwan's.
Thomas Richards is charged with 20 counts of forgery and 19 counts each of theft by deception and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received. He also is charged with one count of disclosure of intercepted communications involving a police wiretap for allegedly bragging about "how the state police had wired him up to get his brother in trouble."
Robert Richards and Mowry are charged with four counts of criminal conspiracy, two counts each of forgery and theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and one count of theft by deception.
Thomas Richards and Robert Richards are free on $50,000 and $25,000 bond, respectively. Mowry also is free. All three face preliminary hearings May 9 before Scottdale District Judge J. Bruce King.
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
