BULLHEAD CITY – A Bullhead City woman who admits involvement in a scheme to alter stolen checks for profit faces a mandatory prison sentence after entering plea agreements during an August 12 hearing in Kingman Monday, Aug. 19. Ginger Deboard, 34, admitted violating probation and she pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud in a deal dismissing more than a dozen charges in multiple cases.
Formal entry of the plea deal came nearly two weeks after a judge told Deboard she could get as many as 329 years in prison if she were convicted of all counts at trial. Now she faces a range of three to 12.5 years in prison when sentenced October 2 by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle.
Deboard selected that option over another plea proposal that would have taken discretion from the Judge while mandating a ten-year prison term.
Prosecutor Jeff Haws said the defendant and her husband Bobby Deboard, altered checks that were stolen from mail box clusters in areas of Bullhead City and Laughlin. He said the checks were converted to benefit Ginger Deboard who deposited their value into at least three different bank accounts that were closed when the money was drained.
Haws said surveillance system video shows both Deboards seen entering those banks on occasions when transactions occurred on those accounts. Haws told the judge that fingerprints from the Deboards were lifted from stolen checks and ID cards located in a warehouse they used for their operation.
Mr. Deboard has indicated he wants to go to trial and risk as many as 269 years in prison rather than taking a deal. His trial is currently scheduled in late October.
