Case dropped against woman accused of passing fake bonds

Derrick Perkins, Daily Inter Lake, Kalispell, Mont.
·1 min read
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May 24—A Flathead County District Court judge this week dismissed a felony case against a woman accused of trying to cash a forged bond at a valley bank.

Authorities brought Liane Maree Lovelace, 55, up on a forgery charge after bank officials determined several bonds she tried to cash on April 7 were fake, according to court documents. The $5,000 bonds were purportedly now worth $44,070, court documents said.

Lovelace told investigators she had just flown into the Flathead Valley from California and gone straight to the bank with the bonds, which she said her grandmother gave her in the 1990s, according to court documents. She said she planned to stay with her mother, who lived in Whitefish, while she visited the area.

Authorities initially held Lovelace with bail set at $50,000. After pleading not guilty at her April 20 arraignment, she was released on her own recognizance.

An omnibus hearing was set for May 15 and a pretrial conference scheduled for July 14.

But on May 17, Deputy County Attorney Amy Kenison filed a motion seeking the dismissal of the case without prejudice "in the interest of justice." Judge Danni Coffman acquiesced and ordered the case dismissed without prejudice on May 22.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.