He’s eligible for a Hidalgo County inmate trust fund account, now.
That’s after sheriff deputies arrested 25-year-old Alton resident James Guerrero after he allegedly tried to cash two fake Hidalgo County Jail Inmate Trust Account checks with the forged signature of Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra.
Jail records indicate this is Guerrero’s first arrest in Hidalgo County.
Deputies arrested him on May 22 and a Hidalgo County grand jury indicted him on July 19 on two counts of forgery of a financial instrument. He’s scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 10, court records indicate.
The indictment against him alleges that on May 6, Guerrero tried to “defraud or harm another” by using the forged checks, which “purported to be the act of J.E. Guerra c/o Hidalgo County Jail Inmate Trust Account, who did not authorize the act.”
There are two alleged checks, one for $1,489.92 and another for $921.57.
A probable cause affidavit for his arrest said a sheriff’s office accountant reported the forgery to investigators on May 11.
The accountant said she received a call from Juniors Supermarket asking about two checks that James Guerrero tried to cash from a jail inmate account.
“No records were found of Mr. Guerrero receiving any check from the Hidalgo County Jail inmate account,” the affidavit stated.
The accountant told investigators that the checks were forged and were not issued by the sheriff’s office.
And investigator met with Guerrero, who said he first tried to cash a check at a Juniors Supermarket in Pharr, but they refused to cash it, according to the affidavit, which said he successfully cashed one of the checks at a Juniors Supermarket in San Juan.
“Mr. Guerrero was aware that the checks were fake when he cashed or attempted to cash the checks,” the affidavit stated.
Guerrero is also facing an additional forgery charge with a May 6 offense date, as well as a charge of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana and a charge of duty on striking fixture/highway landscape.
He remains held in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on a total of $9,000 in bonds.
