A Laramie woman charged with forging a check received probation in Albany County District Court on Monday, Feb. 27.

Esther Gaines will serve two year of supervised probation for helping her mother, Donna Perez, alter a check given to them by a Laramie church to help pay for rent. Perez altered the check for $100 to $400 by changing the number one into a four. Gaines assisted her mother and altered the written word ‘one’ into ‘four’, according to court documents.

Prosecutor Kurt Britzius said the state recommended probation due to Gaines’ lack of criminal history, as well as the fact that Gaines’ mother Perez was the instigator of the crime and Gaines followed her mother’s lead.

Albany County District Court Judge Tori Kricken agreed and said incarceration was not appropriate in this case, although it was in the case of her mother, who received a split sentence earlier this month.

Judge Kricken also ordered that Gaines write a letter of apology, to be delivered to the church by her lawyer.

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