Forgery is considered a felony in all fifty states and is punishable by a range of penalties including jail or prison time, significant fines, probation, and restitution (compensating the victim for money or goods stolen as a result of the forgery).

What is the most common forgery?

Adjusting documents
Adjusting documents is the most common type of forgery. Made documents are completely homemade to resemble real documents. Made documents can be privately made and are often of bad quality and easily detectable.

What is the hardest forgery to detect?

Skilled forgery The hardest type of forgeries to detect, these signatures are produced by criminals who have spent a lot of time practicing and have the ability to replicate the actual signatures in a way that looks both accurate and relatively fluent to the naked eye.

What are the 4 types of forgery?

FORGERY is the creation of falsified material or the altering of any writing with the purpose of defrauding or cheating. There are four basic types of forgery: traced, simulation, freehand and lifted.

What is the punishment for a forgery conviction?

Punishments for Forgery. However, a conviction for felony must face an imprisonment more than one year. In addition to jail sentence, a convict can be required to pay a fine or make restitution to victim. Common law forgery means that there is no statute or law in the state that deals with forgery.

What’s the maximum penalty for a misdemeanor in West Virginia?

In most cases, however, judges have the option of sentencing the defendant to time in jail, imposing a fine, or both. Here are examples of the potential penalties for some common misdemeanors: Petit larceny (theft of property worth less than $1,000): up to one year in jail and/or a maximum $2,500 fine.

What’s the maximum penalty for shoplifting in West Virginia?

First-offense shoplifting: maximum $250 fine if the merchandise was worth $500 or less, or up to 60 days in jail and/or a $100-$500 fine if the merchandise was worth over $500; plus a mandatory penalty paid to the store ($50 or double the value of the merchandise, whichever is greater). Battery: up to one year in jail and/or a $500 fine.

What are the penalties for forging a document?

Creating, forging or altering almost any document, for the intent of fraud or making money, is considered forgery and is subject to state and sometimes federal laws and penalties for individuals caught forging federal documents.