Indiasa Wallace

WARSAW – A Fort Wayne woman was sentenced Thursday, Jan. 25, in the Kosciusko Superior I court, following incidents that occurred in August 2017.

Indiasa Angelica Wallace, 21, 836 Oak Lawn Court, Fort Wayne, was sentenced on two charges of counterfeiting, both level 6 felonies.

The affidavit of probable cause states that on Saturday, Aug. 12, Warsaw Police responded to a call of a female using counterfeit money at Payless Shoes. The store manager advised a female, later identified as Wallace, entered the store and attempted to purchase merchandise with a counterfeit $100 bill. That purchase was denied, and Wallace left the store.

Police were advised that Wallace had exited a white Ford that was still in the parking lot. Additionally, while Wallace was in the store, she dropped a Kmart receipt which showed a $100 transaction. Wallace was observed going into Bath and Body Works.

Police approached the vehicle and found a male sitting in the car. When Wallace exited Bath and Body Works, she was approached by officers and produced a receipt that she had purchased $14.93 in merchandise with a $100 bill, receiving $85.07 change. Police then obtained the counterfeit money.

A search of the vehicle found $500 in counterfeit $100 bills under the driver’s seat, containing the same serial numbers. Police found bags with merchandise and receipts from Staples, Big R, Kmart, Shoe Sensation, Dollar General and Aldi’s. In each instance, the receipts showed the items were purchased with a $100 bill and cash totaling $703.47 given as change. The receipts showed purchases were on Aug. 12.

Police found $280 in cash in the vehicle, $320 in the male’s possession and $71 in Wallace’s purchase. Based on receipts recovered, at least $627 in cash came from change received from businesses in Warsaw.

Officers went to the local businesses to return the merchandise and obtain the counterfeit money. Officials at Kmart reported they had received three counterfeit $100 bills. Two of those bills matched the serial numbers on the money found in Franklin’s vehicle. Officials at Kmart verified that one of the bills was used by Wallace, while the other two were used by two other females. A review of the surveillance video showed the other two females presenting the counterfeit bills for purchases of items valued at small amounts and a large amount of money being given in change.

Staples officials also reported receiving two counterfeit bills, both containing the same serial numbers. Wallace was identified as one of the females, and the second female was the same one seen on the Kmart surveillance video. Wallace told police the male had the counterfeit bills with him when she met him and admitted to making the purchases at the stores. Police were also told that the male went into the store with her sometimes, but not all the time. Payless Shoes and Dunham’s would not accept the counterfeit money, according to Wallace.

Wallace’s lawyer, Joseph Sobek, said, “This was a relatively isolated incident over the course of one day,” and pointed out that Wallace has no criminal history. Sobek requested that Wallace be allowed to serve her sentence through probation so that she could continue working at her job in order to pay restitution.

Wallace was found guilty of two counts of counterfeiting, both level 6 felonies. She was sentenced to one year in the Kosciusko County Jail for each charge, for a total of two years, with the sentences being served concurrently. Judge David Cates ordered the sentence to be suspended, and served on probation. Wallace was ordered to pay all court fees, was given three days of jail time credit and ordered to pay $100 restitution to Big R.