A Farrell man did not show up for his arraignment on federal bank fraud charges Tuesday, said Assistant U.S. Attorney James V. Moroney.

Phillip "Jiggs" Wells, 30, of 622 Emerson Ave., Farrell, was to be released from the Pennsylvania prison system Friday, and U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent in Cleveland had already issued an arrest warrant in preparation for transferring Wells from state to federal custody.

Wells was serving time for pleading guilty to simple assault on a 15-year-old boy in Farrell.

Moroney said he did not know if there had been some sort of mix-up in Wells' transfer.

"We now have two fugitives in the case," Moroney said, referring to Wells and Craig S. Ison, 30, formerly of Sharon, who did not respond to a summons to appear in court May 9 for arraignment. Nugent issued a warrant for Ison's arrest that day.

Aside from Wells and Ison, five others have been indicted on charges of bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud:

   » Lori M. Bryant, 31, of 925 Market Ave., Farrell.

   » Barbara J. McGhee, 61, and Joyce E. Green, 43, of Brownsville, Pa.

   » Lynnette Frieson, 34, and Charles R. Harris, 31, both of 614 French St., Farrell.

Of the five, only Harris has not posted bail. He remains in the Lake County (Ohio) Jail, Moroney said.

Moroney, Nugent and the attorneys for five of the defendants met Tuesday for a pretrial conference. Not much was accomplished since no defense motions, such as for suppression of evidence, have been filed, and a trial date has not been set, Moroney said.

Nugent set the next pretrial for July 8.

"I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of defendants plead guilty at the next pretrial," Moroney said, adding that Nugent also could set a trial date for the remaining defendants.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Harris and Ms. Frieson obtained checks from businesses and organizations and used them as samples to make counterfeit checks.

The couple also assisted the other five in getting false identification documents to use in passing the checks, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Some of the checks were cashed and others deposited into accounts for later withdrawal, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

At least 13 financial institutions in Ohio and Pennsylvania were defrauded of at least $150,000 between April 8, 1998 and January 1999, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at jpinchot@sharon-herald.com