All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
(Lander, WY) – Parris Lawrence, 28, faces two felony and three misdemeanor charges for alleged incidents occurring in 2021.
These charges include fraud by check and fraud by check aggregate felonies, and three fraud by check misdemeanors.
Lawrence faces these charges for six alleged instances of check fraud occurring at five Fremont County businesses, two in Lander, and three in Riverton.
Sufficient probable cause was found at Lawrence’s January 26th hearing, and the case now moves on to District Court, with an arraignment set for February 22nd.
On November 16th, 2021, a Lander Police Department (LPD) officer was dispatched to a Lander business for reports of check fraud.
Two checks, one in the amount of $672.18, and the other $602.14, were both connected to a local bank account belonging to Lawrence, and returned for insufficient funds.
On November 17th, LPD was dispatched to a different Lander business, where it was reported they had received a check from Lawrence in the amount of $317.64, once again from the same bank account with insufficient funds.
On November 18th, Riverton Police Department (RPD) officers were dispatched to an area furniture store, where the following items were purchased by Lawrence via check, on the same bank account with insufficient funds:
- LG 50 inch Smart TV; approximate value of $479.99
- Ashley TV stand, approximate value of $299.00
- Ashley Recliner; approximate value of $499.00
On November 20th, RPD was advised by another Riverton business that they had received an insufficiently funded check from Lawrence, this time in the amount of $443.06.
An employee also reportedly advised that they had attempted to contact Lawrence, but she hadn’t returned any of their calls.
The fifth incident occurred on November 18th, and was brought to the attention of the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department (FCSO) after the business employee had heard about Lawrence allegedly writing bad checks for businesses in the community.
The employee looked into a $70.58 check that Lawrence had used at the business back in August, which was tied to a different, now closed bank account.
Lawrence was later contacted via phone by the FCSO on November 23rd, where she informed the detective she was out of state.
Lawrence confirmed she recalled writing a check for the fifth incident, but claimed her account should have had sufficient funds.
Court documents indicate that at this point in the conversation Lawrence “became angry, and began using obscene language.”
Lawrence’s arraignment is set for February 22nd.
The maximum penalty for a fraud by check aggregate felony charge is 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
The maximum penalty for a fraud by check felony charge is 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
The maximum penalty for a fraud by check misdemeanor charge is 6 months imprisonment and a $750 fine.
County 10 will continue to provide more information on the case is it becomes available, which can be viewed here.