Nixa woman sentenced to prison for counterfeiting

A 39-year-old Nixa woman has been sentenced to time in federal prison for her role in a conspiracy to forge checks and cash more than $134,000 in counterfeit checks in three states.

Lisa Strait-Destefano was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr to five years and seven months in prison and ordered to pay $72,295 in restitution, according to a news release from the office of the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.

The scheme involved the theft of mail from businesses in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma to create counterfeit business checks, as well as stolen identities to cash the checks.

The sentence follows a December 2011 guilty plea, in which Strait-Destefano admitted she engaged in conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Along with co-defendent Derrick Haggard, aka Disco, 35, of Nixa, Strait-Destefano led the conspiracy to counterfeit checks. During the conspiracy occurring July 1-Oct. 25, 2010, the group successfully passed $61,335 in counterfeit checks at financial institutions in the three states and unsuccessfully submitted an additional $73,111 in forged checks.

Haggard had recruited individuals to attempt to pass the counterfeit checks and financial institutions at commercial establishments. He was sentenced last year to 18 years in federal prison without parole.

Strait-Destefano, who had experience in the banking industry, created the counterfeit checks with Haggard and directed the individuals involved in the conspiracy on which businesses to approach, the release said.

She is the eighth and final defendant to be sentenced in the case.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Eggert. It 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, Neosho, Tulsa, Okla., Fayetteville, Ark., and Crawford County, Kan.; the sheriff's departments of Christian and Greene counties;  the Arkansas State Police; and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.