Falsifying court documents and judge's signature
Question Details:
What is the penalty for making fake court documents and forging a judge's signature and giving them to someone claiming they are real? Can that individual go to jail?
The forger would be charged with a felony and would almost certainly face jail time and fines if convicted. The amount of jail time and fines depends on which statute the defendant is charged under, and the number of counts in the complaint. If the defendant has already been charged, do you have a copy of the complaint? Do you know the circumstances behind this act? Feel free to email me at sean@roadlawyer.net or call me at 913 441 5025 if you want to discuss this further.
Sean Santoro/Attorney at Law/Licensed in KS and MO
I'm not a Missouri lawyer, but my research suggests that this would be prosecuted under RSMO 575.130, for "simulating legal process." It's a Class B felony, and the basic sentence for that is 5 to 15 years in prison.
Anyone convicted of this is unlikely to get much leniency, unless there are some very special circumstances. This is a crime not only against the person who was given the documents to make that person pay or do something they did not legally have to do, it is a crime against the entire justice system itself. Proof of the offense doesn't include having to prove that the fake documents "worked" at all.
