Man sentenced in check-cashing scam

A man who had represented himself on felony charges in a 1996 check cashing scam that involved counterfeit Clark County payroll checks is going to be sitting in prison for the next year and a half.

District Judge Jeff Sobel on Tuesday handed down the sentence of four to 10 years for William Earle Nelson, who already has been behind bars for 2 1/2 years while awaiting resolution of his case.

Nelson finally pleaded guilty in February to charges of burglary, forgery and theft although he contended in court the evidence against him was "forged ... corrupted and contaminated."

Nelson originally was charged with scores of counts of possessing counterfeit checks in addition to other felonies and could have spent the rest of his life in prison. Instead, he decided to cut the risk and take the plea bargain shortly after his trial began.

Metro Police had trouble tracking down the forgers until Nelson's arrest on DUI charges in February 1996. In his car were four Federal Express packages containing blank checks and templates for Clark County payroll checks.

Police said 250 "extremely good quality" checks were ready to be filled out and cashed. A word processor used to print the names and amounts on the checks also was found.

Deputy District Attorney David Barker said that Nelson had recruited street people to cash the checks -- usually at casinos that don't make a fuss about government checks -- in exchange for a portion of the proceeds.

The sophisticated multi-state check scam had its roots in the Northwest and had operated in Ohio, California, Washington and other states, Barker said.

In Las Vegas, there were reports of at least 20 counterfeit checks -- each for about $1,000 -- being cashed.

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