No happy birthday for alleged serial check forger
It was Scott Elliot Payne Jr.'s birthday Monday. He wore red and received a free round trip from Pittsburgh to Butler and back.
The red he donned was an Allegheny County Jail jumpsuit. And the trip was made because he had preliminary hearings to attend in connection with four separate criminal cases in Butler County.
The 31-year-old Allegheny County man — an alleged serial counterfeit check forger — waived those hearings that were consolidated at the district judge office in Butler. Payne's alleged forgery spree occurred in 2017.
In the four Butler County cases, he faces a combined five felony counts of forgery, five misdemeanor counts of theft by deception, and one misdemeanor count each of receiving stolen property and bad checks.
Payne already has nine felony cases pending trial in three other counties. The alleged crimes occurred between Aug. 14 and Nov. 3, 2017.
A full story appears in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.
