Former New Mexico Inmate Goes Shopping Using Jail's Checking Account

From AOL News - (Nov. 18) -- Some people get out of jail free. Others get out of jail and rack up thousands of dollars of charges on the detention center's dime. That's what investigators say happened in New Mexico, where a recently released inmate used a check issued to him by the jail to make dozens of fraudulent purchases. Like all inmates incarcerated at Albuquerque's Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, Thomas Stegall was given upon release a check equivalent to the amount of cash he was carrying when he got locked up. But authorities say Stegall copied the check and used the jail's bank account number and routing number to make more than $5,000 of fraudulent purchases, mostly at a Lowe's home improvement store, according to MyFoxChicago.com. Stegall -- who had just been released after serving time on car theft charges -- allegedly sold the newly purchased goods for drugs. Ronald Torres, chief of corrections at the Metropolitan Detention Center, told KOAT.com that from a security standpoint, it's safer for the jail to issue checks than deal with cash. "From a system standpoint, the less cash-handling, the better," he said. Stegall had already been taken into custody for parole violation when he was hit with 42 charges of fraud.

Former New Mexico Inmate Goes Shopping Using Jail's Checking Account