Nixa man sentenced to 18 years for counterfeit scheme

A Nixa man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in a more than $134,000 counterfeit check scheme.

Derrick Haggard, aka Disco, 34, was sentenced yesterday and ordered to pay $76,295 in restitution, according to a news release from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. A number of co-defendants also received sentencing.

In January, Haggard was convicted of all 27 counts charging him with leading a July 1-Oct. 25, 2010, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, create and cash counterfeit checks and steal mail.

The group led by Haggard and co-defendant Lisa Strait-Destefano, 39, of Nixa, successfully passed $61,335 in counterfeit checks at financial institutions in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. They failed to pass another $73,111 in counterfeit checks, the release said.

Co-defendants Dietrich Haggard, aka D-Ball, 31, of St. Robert, and Zachary Skinner, 24, of Springfield, were sentenced yesterday to three years and 17 months in federal prison, respectively. Paul Douglas Jr., 44, of Ft. Leonard Wood, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison without parole and ordered to pay $35,601 in restitution, and Christopher Quale, 26, of St. Robert, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $6,618 in restitution, according to the release.

Strait-Destefano pleaded guilty in January and awaits sentencing. Drew Michael Basten, of Springfield, and Lawrence Eidson, of Buffalo, also pleaded guilty in January to their roles in the conspiracy, but they were not mentioned in today's release.

Through the scheme, the individuals involved stole mail primarily from businesses, looking for original checks that could be counterfeited. Investigators said Derrick Haggard and Strait-Destefano created the counterfeit checks, which were taken by others to financial institutions or commercial establishments, where they were attempted to be cashed.

Strait-Destefano, who had prior experience in the banking industry, directed Haggard toward the businesses to approach, and both defendants provided others involved in the scheme with false identification documents, using other peoples' identities without their permission to match the names placed on the counterfeit checks, the release said.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Eggert and was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service; the U.S. Secret Service; the police departments of Springfield, Branson, Hollister, St. Robert, Carthage, Nixa, Troy, Strafford, Union, Washington, Linn, Lebanon and Neosho in Missouri; the Tulsa Police Department in Oklahoma; the Missouri State Highway Patrol; the Christian County Sheriff’s Department; the Greene County Sheriff’s Department; the Fayetteville Police Department in Arkansas; the Arkansas State Police; and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department in Kansas.