On Wednesday, Sept. 17, Michelle V. Burnett, 33, was sentenced to 10 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections for forgery, per a release from the office of Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson.

According to court documents, on Feb. 19, an employee of a Leavenworth car dealership contacted police, believing a customer was attempting to buy a vehicle with a fake ID. When officers arrived, they were told “Michelle Henderson,” later identified as Burnett, was trying to obtain a loan to purchase a vehicle but had used a suspicious-looking Kansas driver’s license.

As officers spoke with the employee, Burnett left the building but was stopped by police. She admitted the driver’s license was not hers and provided her real name. Investigators later learned she had also used a false Social Security number in an attempt to secure a loan for a vehicle valued at about $14,000.

On Feb. 21, the Leavenworth County Attorney’s Office charged Burnett with forgery and attempted theft. On Aug. 8, she pleaded no contest to forgery. The court accepted her plea and found her guilty. Prosecutors dismissed the attempted theft charge.

“Forgery is not a victimless crime. Local businesses and financial institutions are burdened with the cost when people try to cheat the system,” Thompson said. “It should be noted that these employees did what you should do when you expect fraud: they reported it to the police immediately.”