Baltimore man accused of theft across the Mason-Dixon Line

According to the history books, the Mason-Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 and marked the border between Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. A tiny community called State Line lies on the Pennsylvania side of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Recently it was reported that a Baltimore man was accused of taking a State Line man’s identity and forging checks which he attempted to cash at two separate banks. This border-crossing crime has resulted in charges of two counts each of forgery, bad checks and identity theft. There was also one count of theft by deception and one count of criminal attempted theft by deception charged against the Baltimore man.

The report leaves out several important details related to this alleged crime. The main ones are related to how the Baltimore man was connected to the crime. At this point in time, the Baltimore man is a suspect and his whereabouts are not known.

The man is accused of cashing a check for an unreported amount at the Black Gap Road office of the First National Bank of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in Franklin County. The man is then accused of going to the Fort Loudon branch of First National Bank of Mercersburg, where he unsuccessfully attempted to cash another check.

The checks were business checks, rather than personal checks. How the Baltimore man allegedly obtained them from the State Line business or resident was not reported.

Clearly the police feel they have enough information to charge the Baltimore man, and are not releasing that information to news sources or the public. Regardless of the information they have, or the witness testimony, the prosecution will need to prove the Baltimore man’s guilt beyond any reasonable doubt and until then he is presumed to be innocent.

Source: Public Opinion, “Police in Franklin County seek man on forgery, theft charges,” Aug. 29, 2012

At our Baltimore criminal defense law office we represent individuals charged with felonies including theft and forgery crimes such as those described in this post.