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Competent Forgery Lawyers in Minneapolis, Minnesota

50+

Years Of Collective Experience

10,000

Cases Successfully Resolved

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Criminal & DWI Defense

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Four Minneapolis Forgery Attorneys, One Powerful Law Firm

Attorney Kyle Dreger

Kyle Dreger

Attorney Gerald Miller

Gerald Miller

How Can Our Forgery Attorneys in Minneapolis Help You?

Ordinary Forgery

Aggravated Forgery

Check Forgery

ID Forgery/Identity Theft

Many people equate forgery with a false signature on a document. But in Minnesota, this offense is much broader. Using or possessing a forged instrument is illegal. Destroying or mutilating a document is also forgery. Since almost all these offenses are felonies, the possible consequences are quite severe.

Forgery is generally a technical crime, so at Gerald Miller P.A., we concentrate on technical defenses. Furthermore, we aggressively challenge the state’s evidence. This combination typically produces results which exceed our clients’ expectations.

Ordinary Forgery

In a nutshell, ordinary forgery is altering a document in any way with the intent to defraud another person. Common infractions include:

  • Imitating someone else’s signature,
  • Signing a person’s name without that person’s permission,
  • Changing a label or a provision in an agreement,
  • Possessing a forged instrument (intent to defraud is sometimes difficult to prove in these cases),
  • Destroying a document, and
  • Using a forged instrument.

With the exception of possession cases and possibly a few others, these matters are relatively easy to prove in court for a practiced Minneapolis Forgery Defense Lawyer. The forgery itself is usually rather easy to spot, if jurors look carefully. And, circumstantial evidence is admissible on the intent element.

Fortunately, forgery is a non-violent crime. So, there are a number of possible successful resolutions available.

Aggravated Forgery

The crime of aggravated forgery is more serious than ordinary forgery. Aggravated offenses usually involve high-authority documents, such as:

  • Bank records,
  • Court orders, and
  • Loan documents.

Court orders, particularly family court orders, are among the most common aggravated forgery cases. Most of these documents have multiple pages. Many people are tempted to alter a couple of sentences or financial figures in the body of the order and attach the altered order to the judge’s signature page.

Aggravated forgery cases are a bit more difficult to resolve than ordinary forgery matters. That’s especially true with regard to court or other official document forgeries. Some judges take these cases personally, even if the order was from another court. Whether it is a case of ordinary forgery or aggravated forgery, it is best to hire a Minneapolis Forgery Defense Lawyer. Depending on your case facts, they will help protect your rights and defend your charges vigorously.

Check Forgery

Even with the upsurge in electronic payments, there are still a lot of paper checks out there. Large companies often use paper checks, especially for payroll and other large expenditures, because they leave more of a paper trail. So, Hennepin County financial fraud investigators are always on the lookout for the following schemes:

  • Check kiting,
  • Counterfeiting, and
  • Fraudulent alteration.

Check kiting is writing insufficient checks from multiple accounts hoping that the accounts will have sufficient funds when the bank receives the check. Check kiting is also known as check floating. Fraudulent alteration often involves check washing, which is using chemicals to erase ink and then filling in the blanks.

ID Forgery/Identity Theft

Generally, photo identification forgery is a gross misdemeanor in Minnesota, assuming the document is state issued, like a drivers’ license or identity card, or privately issued, like an ID badge. Passport forgery is a very serious federal crime.

Frequently Asked Questions

Once the court process begins, only a judge or prosecutor can stop it. The judge might throw out a case due to lack of evidence and prosecutors have broad discretion to voluntarily dismiss cases. Witnesses, including forgery witnesses, cannot “drop” criminal charges.

Yes. Forgery is altering a document with the intent to defraud another person. The possible penalties are rather severe. However, since forgery is a non-violent crime, a successful pretrial resolution is possible.

Ordinary forgery, aggravated forgery, and identity theft are the three main types of forgery. Ordinary forgery is falsifying an everyday document, like a membership card or manufacturers identifying label on a product. Aggravated forgery is altering an official document, like a court order or bank record. Identity theft is stealing someone else’s personal information.

Depending on the nature of the infraction, usually the amount of money involved, forgery could mean up to ten years in prison.

How We Make A Difference For You

See What Our Clients Say

Kyle Hawes
Kyle Hawes
20:03 12 Mar 24
Brodie Hacken is the best lawyer in MN he's a fighter yet controlled and calculated from my initial meeting with Brodie I knew he was fighting for me when you have serious charges call Gerald Miller Law ask for Brodie Hacken you won't regret it he is a really really good Lawyer on top of the Criminal defense world 🌎 knowledge and results are crucial when everything is on the line. Thanks Brodie and Gerald for the help in this matter!!! 😁
Panou Yang
Panou Yang
19:10 11 Mar 24
I highly recommend going to Gerald Miller for any legal advice. Especially I cannot thank my attorney Kyle Dreger enough for what he has done for me throughout all my cases for these past year or so. Respond right away doesn’t matter what time of the day it is and answer every questions that I was confused about and was really patient with me. He definitely help me got over a very difficult, stressful time and got my cases all cleared up. I’m just very thankful for everything he does to help me in any way the best as he can so I highly recommend going to Gerald Miller.
Reid Monson
Reid Monson
16:05 11 Mar 24
Kyle Dreger and his team did a phenomenal job guiding me through a rather daunting part of my life and I will forever be grateful to get the result I received. Their professionalism, attention to detail, and most importantly the ability to keep me calm in a stressful situation is top notch. I would recommend the team at Gerald Miller P.A to anyone and will be doing so going forward! I can't thank them enough!
Amir Lal
Amir Lal
22:06 06 Mar 24
Thanks for the best Lawyer Mr Gerald Miller,He is the best of the best for my case and give me great advice
Marcelo
Marcelo
22:28 23 Feb 24
I assisted a friend with a vehicle-related legal case and couldn’t be more delighted to have worked with Tyler Dahlen. Tyler is a top-notch lawyer who helped us in the best way possible. Tyler was always responsive, followed up on emails and calls, and scheduled meetings to provide updates and discuss further steps, showing respect, commitment, and professionalism at all times. We genuinely felt we were in good hands.The case was completed with successful results, and we can’t be grateful enough. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with Tyler or with this A+ law firm in the future
Breanna Danielson-Strahm
Breanna Danielson-Strahm
20:26 12 Jan 24
Kyle helped me reduce my DUI to exactly what we wanted! He’s has been very friendly, amazing, and supportive through this whole scary process!

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Keeping You Informed

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