A husband and wife are facing a total of 21 forgery charges after they were accused of forging checks from his grandmother’s checkbook.
Gregory Allen Hicks, 28, is facing 18 counts of forgery charges and Heather Nicole Hicks, 29, Elizabethton, has been charged with five counts of forgery stemming from the incident.
In a grand jury presentment from Sept. 15, the couple has been charged with forging checks from Gregory Hicks’ grandmother’s checking account from April 18 through May 1.
Elizabethton Police Department Investigator Todd Hamm said Gregory Hicks was accused of taking his grandmother’s checkbook and both were accused of writing checks from the account.
Hamm said the couple would either make checks out to themselves for cash or use the checks to make purchases at local businesses. The check amounts ranged from $29 to $425.
Hamm said the crime came to light when the grandmother’s account was overdrawn.
“That’s when she noticed she had a checkbook missing and contacted us,” he said.
Heather Hicks was arrested and charged with five counts of forgery Monday.
Gregory Hicks was already in custody from previous unrelated charges and was charged with the additional 18 counts of forgery while incarcerated at the Carter County Jail.
The couple will appear in criminal court at the next available date.