Check forgery charges suspended

A woman who wrote more than $23,000 in bad checks will have the opportunity to avoid jail time by paying the money back.

Kristina Lynn Snipes, 28, will pay about $700 a month for three years to make restitution. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday on two counts of felony issuance of checks without sufficient funds.

The charge was suspended during the restitution period and will be reconsidered at that time.

Snipes' case was publicized partly because there was also an allegation of bigamy. That charge was dropped by District Attorney Noel Waters because of the difficulty in proving that she never divorced her first husband.

"Each county seat keeps their own record of divorces, so we would have to go around to each and every one - in the country," Waters said at the time.

Public Defender Steve McGuire said her problems with money were related to a drug habit. At her sentencing, Snipes said she was already involved in treatment for an addiction to methamphetamine.

"I'd like the opportunity to make myself a better person," she said.

McGuire's family took Snipes into their home when she was first released to go to a drug treatment facility.