Criminal charges against a Stillwater woman accused of check forgery have been dropped in South Dakota, her attorney has confirmed.
Courtney Lee Johnson, now 20, had never been to that state and was home ill under her mother's care on the day the fraudulent checks were written on a church account in Sioux Falls. She had reported her driver's license stolen at a Minneapolis nightclub about a month before the crime occurred.
Attorney Scott Martin said late last week that the apparent theft of Johnson's identity has been costly to her, both in legal costs and reputation.
He said he would be working to expunge her name from court records in Minnesota and South Dakota.
Johnson was arrested by three federal marshals and a police officer in June 2010 when she walked off a St. Croix riverboat where she worked, handcuffing her in front of customers. She spent three days in jail.
Charges against her in Minnesota were dropped in August 2010, but Johnson was absolved only recently in the South Dakota portion of the case, Martin said.
KEVIN GILES
