Two charged with forging Henry County Jail checks

MT. PLEASANT — Henry County Sheriff Rich McNamee announced Monday that his office has made arrests in a case involving fraudulent checks that falsely showed coming from the Henry County Jail.

In January, it was discovered that fraudulent checks, represented to be from the Henry County Jail checking account, were being made, forged, and deposited.

Upon investigation it was found that during December 2021 and January 2022, multiple checks were fraudulently made, forged, and deposited into suspect accounts, with the total of fraudulent checks being over $30,000.

Upon further investigation, the following have been charged regarding this fraud/forgery investigation:

Messiah Johnson, 30 of Bloomington, Illinois, was charged with three counts of forgery (D felony), conspiracy to commit forgery (D felony), and theft 1st (C felony).

Darriauna Jones, 26 of Bloomington, Illinois, was charged with two counts of forgery (D felony), conspiracy to commit forgery (D felony), and theft 1st (C felony).

Further charges are pending.

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office reminds citizens that anyone can be a victim of crime and to be vigilant in overseeing their financial accounts and transactions.