Jury reaches verdict in Whitley County Jail check theft case

It only took a McCreary County circuit court jury about 15 minutes Friday afternoon to convict a former Whitley County Jail inmate in a scheme to cash checks, which were stolen from the Whitley County Jail during a prior administration.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Allen Trimble said the two-day trial ended Friday when the jury convicted Christy Caldwell, 25, of Whitley City, on 22 counts of criminal complicity to commit second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.
On Nov. 22, 2004, the McCreary County Grand Jury indicted a total of seven people including Carrie Swafford, 27, of Stearns, and Caldwell, who authorities believe obtained the checks that were written in amounts totaling $5,463.20 and cashed in McCreary County.
A total of 23 forged checks were allegedly written on a Whitley County Jail account or accounts between July 1, 2004, and Aug. 19, 2004, according to a series of six indictments issued by the McCreary County Grand Jury.
Trimble said he’s not sure how Swafford and Caldwell obtained the checks, but that a deputy jailer testified that he spotted the two women, who were trustees at the jail, in the jail office one day where the checks were kept.
Both women were prisoners from McCreary County, who at the time were being held in the Whitley County Jail because the McCreary County Jail didn’t hold female inmates.
“She (Caldwell) provided checks to various other individuals on the Whitley County Jail canteen account and inmate account. She filled out the checks in the person’s name, and they went in to cash it in McCreary County, and then came back and gave her, or Swafford, the money,” Trimble said.
Trimble said Tennessee authorities apparently investigated cases of forged jail checks being cashed at bars in Tennessee as well.
“I don’t know why a bar would take a check from the Whitley County Jail, but they apparently did,” he noted.
Five other co-defendants in the case: James Phillips, 22, of Revelo, Marshall Staten, 28, of Pine Knot, Vanessa Anderson-Chaney, 33, of Oneida, Tenn., Sarena Allen, 22, of Stearns, and Shannon King, 23, of Stearns, all entered plea bargains to criminal possession of a forged instrument charges, and received a probated prison sentence.
Trimble said Swafford, who authorities believe was also a ring leader in the operation, pleaded guilty for her involvement in exchange for a 10 year prison sentence.
He said Caldwell was made the same plea offer that Swafford accepted, but she rejected it.
All six co-defendants testified against Caldwell during the two-day trial held last week in Whitley City.
The maximum sentence Caldwell could receive is 20 years in prison.
Trimble said prosecutors and the defense attorney agreed to a one-year prison on each count following the jury’s verdict.
A judge will decide at the time of sentencing whether part or all of the sentences will be run concurrently or consecutively for a sentence ranging from one to 20 years in prison.