A high school senior and a former employee for the Bee County Chamber of Commerce have been found guilty of forging checks.

District Court Judge Janna Whatley sentenced Lisa Farago and Monica Ann Saenz to probation in connection with the state jail felony offenses.

Farago, 17, of Oakville, will serve three years deferred adjudication probation and pay more than $3,000 in restitution.

She was charged with nine counts of forgery, each offense a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail.

According to the Beeville police, Farago cashed nine checks on the Prosperity Bank account of another woman on nine occasions between March 6 and March 24. Seven of the checks were written for $400 and two were for $300.

A clerk at the check cashing center became suspicious when Farago cashed two checks within hours of each other.

Farago, a George West High School senior, confessed to officers that she was helping her sister clean the woman’s house when she found and took several blank checks.

Whatley waived the $1,000 fine recommended by the district attorney’s office because Farago was a student.

Saenz, 38, of Three Rivers, faced eight counts of forgery, each one a state jail felony.

Police accused Saenz of cashing eight $300 checks between May 15 and July 29, 2008, all on a Prosperity Bank account in the name of the Bee County Chamber of Commerce where she once worked.

Whatley sentenced Saenz to three years deferred adjudication probation, fined her $1,000 and ordered her to pay $1,700 in restitution.

According to the resumé she presented to the chamber of commerce during her interview, Saenz exclaimed: “I try to be the best person possible.”

However, she abandoned that doctrine in 2008. Saenz confessed to police that she was forced to resort to forgery after she and her husband separated and she needed money to feed her three children and have the power turned back on.

Assistant District Attorney Deborah Branch asked Whatley on Tuesday to confine Saenz to the restitution center where she would work to pay off the restitution. However, Whatley decided against that.

Instead, Whatley ordered Saenz to pay $1,700 in restitution by Dec. 1.

Saenz said she would get the money from her husband, who would take it from his employee retirement account.

Abraham Anzaldua, 29, of Beeville, also was sentenced to three years deferred adjudication probation in connection with forgery.

Anzaldua, who also lists a George West address, was indicted on two felony counts forgery, each count a state jail felony but agreed to plead guilty to one of the charges if the other was dismissed.

According to Bee County sheriff’s deputies, Anzaldua forged checks on another person’s First National Bank account on Jan.1 and 2 of this year for a total of $105.

Whatley ordered Anzaldua to pay a $1,500 fine and restitution.

Under deferred adjudication probation, judgment is deferred until later, if ever. If the defendant successfully completes the terms of the probation, he is not judged and thus will not have a criminal record in connection with the offense. However, if he fails to abide by the terms of probation, he can be sentenced to the maximum time in prison without a trial.