Forger's helpers sentenced to prison
Two accomplices of a man who was sent to state prison for perjury and identity theft were sentenced in Burbank Superior Court on Thursday.
Yina Cox, 20, and Alvin Richards, 28, pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft for assisting Santino Hamilton, 33, in a check-forging scheme. The two were sentenced to up to one year in jail.
Cox, who worked as a teller for a Kinecta Credit Union in Hawthorne, stole private information from bank records, using the information along with Richards and Hamilton to cash counterfeit checks throughout Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.
Hamilton was caught after attempting to cash a forged payroll check in Glendale. He was sentenced to seven years in state prison.
Deputy District Atty. Aaron Singer sought five years in prison for Richards and Cox, but Judge Patrick Hegarty decided on an up to one-year sentence because of the age of the convicted and that the two had no prior criminal record.
