A Butler County judge has sentenced a North Carolina man to jail for his role in a forgery scheme in Cranberry Township.

Quin Malloy, 29, of Fayetteville was one of three North Carolinians charged in arranging an organized attempt to steal, alter and cash checks. Malloy was charged July 30 along with Darrell Devern Thomas, 42, of Fayetteville, and Leigha Justine Walker, 39, of Greensboro, N.C.

For his role, Malloy pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced the same day to time served to 18 months in jail and three years of probation for conspiring to commit theft and forgery, both felonies, by Judge William Shaffer. As part of the plea deal, a number of other charges were dropped.

Malloy was immediately paroled after receiving credit for time already served.

Thomas' case is still active and he maintains his innocence. Walker pleaded guilty Oct. 30 to similar charges.

The investigation into Malloy and his codefendants began when police arrived at a Cranberry business early in the morning July 29 and learned that a check worth nearly $42,000 had been removed from the business' mailbox by one or more people in a blue Nissan, according to a police affidavit.

The next day, police in Hampton Township, Allegheny County, found the same car at a bank where an employee allegedly said Walker was trying to cash a forged check.

That check, according to police, was stolen from a Middlesex Township building July 29 and had been altered. Three other checks had been altered — two from Cranberry businesses and one from Butler Health System — that hadn't belonged to the trio and were allegedly in their possession.

The police said that Walker told them she knew the checks were stolen and altered and that the three North Carolinians traveled to Pennsylvania to perpetrate those crimes.