ST. GEORGE — A woman accused of possessing stolen credit cards, forged checks and personal documents belonging to more than 50 individuals appeared for a review hearing in 5th District Court on Monday, nearly four years after the case was filed.
The defendant, 45-year-old Michelle Brown, of Las Vegas, Nevada, faces 21 third-degree felony charges, including 10 counts each of possessing a forgery device and unlawful acquisition of a financial card and one count of possessing another’s identifying documents in a case filed on Aug. 3, 2020.
The traffic stop
On July 31, 2020, Brown was pulled over on Interstate 15 by a Washington County Sheriff’s deputy for allegedly drifting in and out of traffic lanes. After a K-9 unit was deployed and indicated the possible presence of narcotics, a search of the vehicle ensued, during which officers say they found stolen credit cards, forged checks and personal documents belonging to more than 50 individuals, as previously reported by St. George News.
Brown was arrested and booked into jail. Bail was set at $7,500, and she was released the following day after posting a bond.
When the Washington County Attorney’s Office filed the case two days later, bail was set at $105,000. But by that time, Brown was no longer in custody. A warrant was then issued for her arrest when she failed to make an initial appearance in court.
The warrant remained outstanding for nearly four years until on May 2, she was arrested in Salt Lake City for a warrant issued in Summit County on a forgery case filed in 2019 and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail.
Following a dismissal of the Summit County case, Brown was transported to Washington County six days later and booked into jail on the warrant. She has remained in custody since.
During Monday’s hearing, St. George Police Detective Zach Bahlmann provided an overview of the evidence collected during the traffic stop in 2020. This included documents related to unemployment benefits and other financial records that did not belong to Brown. He said that while working with other investigators, they found multiple victims of identity fraud.
Brown’s attorney, Nathan Reeve, reviewed the details of the stop that led to the discovery of the evidence recovered from the vehicle. He said this case should be dismissed since his client had an open case in Nevada for similar offenses possibly linked to the charges Brown received in Utah.
“I think the interest of justice might still dictate that my client not pay for the same crime twice,” Reeve added.
Prosecutor Jim Weeks countered, saying the Nevada case was unrelated and filed in a different jurisdiction, so it had nothing to do with the charges filed in Utah, which should have no bearing on the case.
District Judge Jay Winward agreed with the state and said the defendant could be charged with stealing the documents in Nevada and charged with possessing those documents in Utah, as has been well-established by case law.
The judge said there was sufficient evidence to proceed with 10 of the felony charges, and the case was bound over for trial. A review hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13 at 5th District Court in St. George.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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