Check-Forging Caregiver Pleads Down to Suspended Jail Sentence

A Hampton caregiver facing trial for pleaded guilty Tuesday to lesser charges in exchange for a 12-month suspended jail sentence and 100 hours of community service, according to the Union Leader.

Valerie Trunfio, 37, forged five of the couple's checks totaling $2,000 over the course of 16 days in May 2012, according to court and indictment paperwork. Trunfio was charged separately by Hampton and North Hampton police because she cashed the checks in both of those communities, and between the two cases she originally faced five counts of felony forgery and one count of receiving stolen property.

The Union Leader has reported that the plea deal for Trunfio, a former Exeter Hospital nurse's aid, is for one felony count of forgery and a misdemeanor receiving stolen property charge, the latter of which stems from the fact that she was found with one of the hospital's oxygen monitors. The paper also reported that the plea deal includes $2,000 in restitution to the North Hampton couple.