Police: Grandma's forgery fooled us

When a Kane County judge refused a bid to give a woman custody of her 8-year-old son, the grandmother stepped in and forged court papers in an attempt to abduct the child, authorities said Tuesday.

The phony paperwork was so authentic that it looked real to a patrol officer Friday, who was present when the 42-year-old grandmother took the child and, with his mother, drove off on Interstate 88 before the ruse was discovered.

"It appeared to be a high quality, enough to fool a police officer," said Dan Ferrelli, an Aurora police spokesman.

On Tuesday, the child was back at home and his grandmother, Jeinie Ann Andrews, was in jail, charged with five felony offenses.

Even with modern printers and copiers, forging a judge's order or signature is rare. And when it does happen, people in the courthouse remember.

Judge F. Keith Brown said attorneys still remind him of the time his signature was forged -- 15 years ago -- when he was on the bench in felony court.

"Our signatures are very important to certain documents and certain people," Brown said, adding there are several safeguards in place to try to keep documents signed by a judge legit.

Judge Donald Hudson, the chief judge of the 16th Judicial Circuit, also said the incidents are rare, but he declined further comment because of the pending criminal case.

The forgery took place last Thursday after Judge Marmarie Kostelny, in court records, denied a move to grant custody of the boy to his mother.

The boy's father, Benito H. Rivera, won a court dispute in 2002 against Tyseray Brown for custody of his son, court records show.

The custody fight was renewed last month after the 29-year-old Rivera was sent to prison on an aggravated battery conviction, said Sandra Parga, an Aurora lawyer for the child's family.

After the judge rejected to grant Brown custody in writing, police say, the document was altered in her favor.

A copy of the forged order provided to the Daily Herald is rife with flaws and misspellings.

It was apparently enough to convince police, who were summoned last Friday when Andrews and her daughter went to retrieve the child.

"Somehow, she forged this paperwork saying she was granted custody of the child and she had taken off with the kid by the time we found out about it," Ferrelli said.

Officers called the women on a cell phone and had them return with the child. The matter is still under investigation and Brown, who apparently lives in Florida, is not expected to be charged with a crime, Ferrelli said.

But the allegations against her mother might not help her custody case.

When Kostelny learned of the forgery allegations at a hearing Tuesday, she issued an emergency order of protection for the child to remain with his grandfather, Parga said.

"The judge was pretty surprised," Parga said.

Judicial orders, rulings and other court documents are computer-scanned to maintain the official record. The circuit court clerk also keeps an original copy in the case file.

Andrews, who listed an Indiana address in addition to several residences in Florida, was booked in the Kane County jail Saturday, on three forgery counts and one count each of child abduction and obstruction of justice.

She is scheduled to make in initial court appearance today.