Gurnee man sentenced for forging signature on stolen check

A 25-year-old Gurnee man accused of stealing checks and using one to steal $1,325 was sentenced to four years in prison.

As part of a plea deal, Freddie J. Howard pleaded guilty Feb. 16 to forgery. In exchange, a theft charge, was dismissed, according to McHenry County Judge James Cowlin's sentencing order.

Howard was accused of stealing another man's checks in March 2020 and writing a fraudulent check to another person. The Crystal Lake Police Department investigated the case.

Howard must serve at least 50% of the four-year sentence and will receive credit for 779 days spent in custody.

Howard subsequently was returned to the Shawnee Correctional Center, where he had been serving a six-year prison sentence for an aggravated unlawful use of a weapon conviction in Lake County, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.

In that case, Howard pleaded guilty last March to illegally possessing a firearm in a vehicle without a Firearm Owner's Identification card, Lake County court records show. In exchange for his guilty plea, two other charges - two counts of possessing a firearm as a felon - were dismissed.

He is to serve at least 50% of that six-year sentence and received credit for 156 days in custody.

He is expected to be paroled in October 2024, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.