FORGERY CHARGES DEFENSE IN DENVER

Forgery charges are serious matters, as such a charge can result in a felony conviction.  Forgery offenses also can involve complicated legal issues, requiring keen legal analysis.  If an individual is convicted of a forgery offense, such a conviction can have life-long negative consequences. For these reasons, if you are facing a forgery offense allegation, it is important that you consult an experienced and knowledgeable Colorado defense attorney.  At Decker and Jones, we have such attorneys equipped to advise and represent you in your case.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, a person can be charged with forgery if the individual, with intent to defraud, falsely makes, completes, alters, or utters a written instrument which is or purports to be, or which is calculated to become or to represent if completed:

• Part of an issue of money, stamps, securities, or other valuable instruments issued by a government or government agency; or
• Part of an issue of stock, bonds, or other instruments representing interests in or claims against a corporate or other organization or its property; or
• A deed, will, codicil, contract, assignment, commercial instrument, promissory note, check, or other instrument which does or may evidence, create, transfer, terminate, or otherwise affect a legal right, interest, obligation, or status; or
• A public record or an instrument filed or required by law to be filed or legally fileable in or with a public office or public servant; or
• A written instrument officially issued or created by a public office, public servant, or government agency; or
• Part of an issue of tokens, transfers, certificates, or other articles manufactured and designed for use in transportation fees upon public conveyances, or as symbols of value usable in place of money for the purchase of property or services available to the public for compensation; or
• Part of an issue of lottery tickets; or
• A document-making implement that may be used or is used in the production of a false identification document or in the production of another document-making implement to produce false identification documents

Forgery is a class 5 felony.

Depending upon the circumstances of the case, a person can be charged with forgery if the individual, with intent to defraud, such person falsely makes, completes, alters, or utters a written instrument that is not:

• Part of an issue of money, stamps, securities, or other valuable instruments issued by a government or government agency; or
• Part of an issue of stock, bonds, or other instruments representing interests in or claims against a corporate or other organization or its property; or
• A deed, will, codicil, contract, assignment, commercial instrument, promissory note, check, or other instrument which does or may evidence, create, transfer, terminate, or otherwise affect a legal right, interest, obligation, or status; or
• A public record or an instrument filed or required by law to be filed or legally fileable in or with a public office or public servant; or
• A written instrument officially issued or created by a public office, public servant, or government agency; or
• Part of an issue of tokens, transfers, certificates, or other articles manufactured and designed for use in transportation fees upon public conveyances, or as symbols of value usable in place of money for the purchase of property or services available to the public for compensation; or
• Part of an issue of lottery; or
• A document-making implement that may be used or is used in the production of a false identification document or in the production of another document-making implement to produce false identification documents; or
• An academic record

Second-degree forgery is a class 1 misdemeanor.

A person can be charged with use of a forged academic record if they use the document to seek employment, admission to an institution of higher education, financial assistance from the institution itself or from other public or private sources of financial assistance. They may also be charged if they falsely make, complete, or alter a written instrument that purports to be, or will be represented if completed, a bona fide academic record of an institution of secondary or higher education.

Use of a forged academic record is a class 1 misdemeanor.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, a person can be charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument if the individual, with knowledge that it is forged and with intent to use to defraud, such person possesses any forged instrument.

Criminal possession of a forged instrument is a class 6 felony.

Depending upon the circumstances of the case, a person can be charged with criminal possession of a 2nd degree forged instrument if the individual, with knowledge that it is forged, and with intent to defraud, possesses any forged instrument which fits the classifications of 2nd-degree forgery.

Depending upon the circumstances of the case, a person can be charged with criminal possession of forgery devices if the individual:

• Makes or possesses with knowledge of its character any plate, die, or other device, apparatus, equipment, or article specifically designed for use in counterfeiting, unlawfully simulating, or otherwise forging written instruments or counterfeit marks; or
• Illegally possesses a genuine plate, die, or other device used in the production of written instruments or counterfeit marks, with intent to fraudulently use the same; or
• Unlawfully makes, produces, possesses, or utters a document-making implement knowing that such document-making implement may be used or is used in the production of a false identification document or counterfeit mark or another implement for the production of false identification documents or counterfeit marks

Criminal possession of forgery devices is a class 6 felony.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, a person can be charged with criminal simulation if the individual, with intent to defraud, makes, alters, or represents any object in such fashion that it appears to have an antiquity, rarity, source or authorship, ingredient, or composition which it does not in fact have; or, utters, misrepresents, or possesses any such object.

Criminal simulation is a class 1 misdemeanor.