<p>A Greenwood man was sentenced to about a year and a half of probation after stealing checks from mailboxes, altering them and depositing them into his account.</p><p>Charles Gene Ferguson pleaded guilty to forgery, a Level 6 felony, and conversion, which is a misdemeanor.</p><p>Circuit Court Judge Andy Roesener sentenced Ferguson to 545 days on the felony, with 10 days executed in jail and the rest of the sentence suspended to probation, according to court documents.</p><p>He was sentenced to a year for the second count. That sentence will run consecutive to the first sentence. Ferguson was given five days of jail credit, court documents said.</p><p>The sentence also includes paying more than $500 in restitution to three victims of the theft.</p><p>Ferguson was charged after taking 27 checks from 21 mailboxes in June and July of 2017. Seven victims reported that other items, such as birthday cards, were taken, according to court documents.</p><p>The Greenwood Police Department began investigating when it received five reports of thefts from mailboxes in the same subdivision in July 2017.</p><p>Residents told police that they had put envelopes with checks in their mailboxes for pickup by the U.S. Postal Service. In some cases, the name of the payee on the check had been changed to Ferguson’s name, court documents said.</p><p>Police investigated and got surveillance images of a vehicle with a flashing light in the rear window stopped at a mailbox about 5:30 a.m. one morning. An envelope containing a check inside the mailbox was then reported missing, court documents said.</p><p>Ferguson had worked as an independent contractor for the Daily Journal, delivering newspapers in the subdivision where the thefts occurred. His contract was terminated when the company learned of the investigation.</p>
