Three Plead Guilty to Passing Counterfeit Checks at Edina Target

A man and two women pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to passing counterfeit checks totaling thousands of dollars at retail stores around the metro area, including the .

Ryan Lamarr Chambers, age unknown, Ci’Preaunni Ja’Von Stewart, 22, and Jamee Leah Spillman, 38, pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme in which they’d use counterfeit checks to purchase merchandise and gift cards that totaled between $30,000 and $70,000, according to a news release.

They claimed the checks were travelers checks, which prevented store employees from realizing they were counterfeit for several days, according to the release. Outside of the Edina store, Targets in Buffalo, Burnsville, Cottage Grove, Medina, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Oakdale, St. Cloud, Vadnais Heights and Woodbury were all impacted.

The three defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting bank fraud.

Chambers admitted to passing the counterfeit checks at the stores, while Stewart admitted to passing the counterfeit checks as well as opening bank accounts to be used in the scheme. The accounts were funded with checks from other accounts with insufficient funds to cover their value, according to the release.

Spillman admitted to applying for personal checking accounts using false identities and then using the fraudulent checks to buy gift cards.

Each of the defendants faces a potential maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

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