A Bradford man known by the online moniker “Sold Out” has been jailed for 91 felony counts relating to a check-cashing scam at Northwest Bank in Bradford.
Brian Stuart Isaac Jerdan, 39, is charged with 18 counts each of forgery, second-degree felonies; theft by deception — false impression, third-degree felonies; access device fraud, third-degree felonies; identity theft and tampering with public records, all third-degree felonies.
According to the criminal complaint, on Aug. 5, Foster Township Police were notified a man was at the drive-thru of Northwest Bank on East Main Street attempting to cash a fraudulent check. Police apprehended Justin Hillard, and spoke to bank personnel who said they had 18 checks made out to different people, all of which had been cashed and all of which were fraudulent.
Hillard told police that a man known on Facebook as “Sold Out” was the one making the checks on a Chromebook and that he always had a backpack with him. Hillard told police he knew the checks were fake and the man who would give him the checks would always take a cut from the money Hillard would receive. He said the man had been with him that day, but started to get suspicious and left before police arrived, the complaint stated.
Hillard said the man’s name was Brian Jerdan. Police verified Jerdan’s identity through contact with other police departments, and tracked down the person whose account the fraudulent checks had been drawn on. The person was in South Carolina, and said he had lost his wallet, but he had not been in Bradford writing or cashing checks, according to the complaint.
On Aug. 27, Bradford City Police conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the City of Bradford. The Foster Township officer recognized the description of the vehicle and went to the scene, where he immediately recognized Jerdan as a passenger in the vehicle and took him into custody.
Jerdan was arraigned early Sunday morning before on-call District Judge Bill Todd and remanded to jail in lieu of $200,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Central Court on Thursday.
