Marshall man sentenced in Redwood County Court for giving friends checks to use from a closed account

A Marshall man was sentenced in Redwood County Court for giving several of his friends checks from a closed bank account with instructions to write them fast, before businesses could figure out what was going on.

According to a Redwood Falls Police statement, on Jan 13, 2019, Ryan James Smith, age 28, of Marshall acknowledged he had given two of his friends — Alex E. Blue, age 32, and Kevin Wayne Pendleton, age 34 — 25 blank checks from an account that had been closed for over a year.

According to court documents, Smith acknowledged he had told Blue and Pendleton they could pass the checks at various Redwood Falls businesses because it takes two to three days for businesses to learn the check is from a closed account.

From Jan. 13 through March 7, 2019, nine separate checks linked to Smith’s closed account were issued to several businesses in Redwood Falls, totaling $657.08 altogether.

On March 22, Smith was sentenced on two counts of issuing dishonored checks, to 13 months in the correctional facility in St. Cloud, with 542 days credit for time served.