If you have been charged with forgery, you could be facing years in prison. It is common for a person facing this or other fraud charges to not be sure how they should proceed. If you have found yourself facing these charges and you want help from a criminal defense attorney who can fight for your rights, then you want to call Chambers Law Firm at 714-760-4088. In the meantime, keep reading to find out more about this charge.
Potential Penalties for a Forgery Conviction
Depending on the specifics of the crime, you could be facing misdemeanor or felony charges. If the prosecution charges it as a felony then you could be forced to pay thousands of dollars in fines and spend as long as three years in state prison. This conviction can also make it difficult to get housing, a job, or professional licensing in the future.
There Are Many Types of Forgery
Many people have an idea in mind when they think of a forgery crime but the truth may be quite different. The first thing to know is that you do not have to have been successful in the forgery. It also true that you can copy many things without breaking the law as long as you had no intent to defraud someone with the copy.
Some examples of committing forgery including signing someone else’s name when they did not give you permission to do so, faking a seal on an “official” document, faking someone’s handwriting, changing or otherwise falsifying any legal document (for example, a Will or Deed), and any type of faking or altering of a document that has to do with money, property, or finances.
The California Penal Code goes into great detail about the various types of documents that can be involved in this type of case. In fact, they name nearly 40 including checks, prescriptions, money orders, contracts, lottery tickets, property deeds, wills, and real estate leases.
There Are Two Main Options to Defend Yourself Against a Forgery Charge
In most cases, there will be two options for defense. First, we may prove that you did not actually forge the document. We may do this by employing handwriting experts or gathering other witnesses. The second option is to prove that you did the action in question but that you did so without the intent to defraud anyone.
In the event that neither of those defense options applies to your case, the best option may be to negotiate the best possible plea deal with the prosecution. At Chambers Law Firm we have many years of experience and know how to find creative sentencing options. Call our offices today at 714-760-4088 to find out how we can help you.
