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Marcina Louise Lemmer, 53, faces up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted on the single charge.
According to the criminal complaint filed Thursday and made available Monday, Lemmer’s ex-daughter-in-law reported the crime to the Winona County Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 12, 2007. She said Lemmer forged her maiden name in September 2006 on an order for cookbooks to be printed by Morris Press Cookbooks in Nebraska.
The woman told a sheriff’s deputy that she had no intention of being part of the book deal with Lemmer, but Lemmer signed her name on the contract anyway, according to the complaint. Now, the woman said, she’s being harassed by credit companies and receives bills from the printing company asking for $2,396.
Lemmer admitted to investigators in January that she had forged the woman’s name on the contract, but that they had gone into the project together to raise money for Mosher Veterans Home in Dresbach, Minn., according to the complaint. Representatives of the veterans home told investigators they didn’t want to be involved in Lemmer’s cookbook project, but she put the home’s name on the front page of the book, court documents show.
When the books didn’t sell, the printing company refused to buy them back, and Lemmer said she has since been making payments to a collection company, according to the complaint.
According to court documents, investigators examined the contract, which had Lemmer’s signature on it as well as a signature and Social Security number for the victim, but the victim said she never signed the document.
Lemmer was not arrested but has been summoned to appear Dec. 19 in Winona County District Court.
Kevin Behr may be reached at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
J.D. wrote on Nov 10, 2008 4:08 PM: