Published Wednesday, August 21, 2002
to bank fraud
is fourth in case
By Joe Pinchot
The former owner of Chuck and the Whole 9 Yards admitted being behind the whole nine yards of a bank fraud scam.
Charles R. Harris, 31, of 614 French St., Sharon, pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud before U.S. District Court Judge Donald C. Nugent, Cleveland.
"He pretty much admitted being the orchestrator of the whole thing," said Assistant U.S. Attorney James V. Moroney.
A sentencing date was not set, but likely will be in late October, Moroney said.
Harris has been in federal custody since April 29, and will be given credit for the time spent behind bars when he is sentenced, Moroney said.
The guilty plea is the fourth in the case in which seven people were indicted.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Harris and Lynette Frieson obtained checks from businesses and organizations and used them as samples to make counterfeit checks.
The couple also assisted five others 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 for later withdrawal, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
At least 13 financial institutions in Ohio and Pennsylvania were defrauded of about $250,000 between April 8, 1998, and January 1999, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
In court Monday, Harris admitted obtaining sample checks, altering them on a computer and recruiting the others to cash them, Moroney said.
Harris owned the clothing store Chuck and the Whole 9 Yards, Sharon, when it was raided by the FBI in January 1999.
Ms. Frieson, 34, of 614 French St., pleaded guilty to conspiracy last week, and Lori M. Bryant, 31, of 925 Market Ave., Farrell, and Barbara J. McGhee, 61, of Brownsville, Pa., pleaded guilty to conspiracy last month.
Joyce E. Green, 43, of Brownsville, and Phillip "Jiggs" Wells, 30, of 622 Emerson Ave., Farrell, signed pre-plea agreements Monday. They pleaded not guilty at their arraignments, but the signing indicates their intention change their pleas to guilty.
A pre-sentencing investigation will be performed on Green and Wells, and a hearing will be set for both the entrance of the plea and sentencing, Moroney said.
Many defendants who sign pre-plea agreements want to see how their criminal history and background would impact the sentence they could receive under federal guidelines, Moroney said.
The last person charged, Craig S. Ison, 39, of Sharon, was arrested July 31 in Maryland, where he is facing cocaine distribution charges, Moroney said.
Ison will be turned over to federal authorities once the Maryland charges are resolved, Moroney said.
Ison had been a fugitive since May 9, when he did not show up for federal arraignment.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at jpinchot@sharon
herald.com