Last Topaz Lodge check kiter sent to prison

George H. Beatty, 47, has a history of criminal fraud and cashing bad checks. 

“He wants to do right,” said attorney Matthew Ence.” He does have a criminal history, but it’s been a while.”

In 2018, Beatty was convicted of a federal fraud charge for cashing $4,000 in bad checks, according to prosecutor Erik Levin. 

“The fact is you have a terrible criminal history and have earned yourself a prison sentence,” said District Court Judge Tod Young. 

Beatty was sentenced to 19-48 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $4,252.52 to Topaz Lodge and $2,184.80 to the Douglas County Sheriffs Office to bring him back to face charges.

Beatty is the third man sentenced to prison in connection with the thefts in which participants cashed fake payroll checks from the California Department of Transportation.

The case was uncovered Jan. 19, 2020, when deputies responded to a report that someone was passing a large number of bad checks at the south county casino.

Two men, Jonathan Lee Schofield and Henry Jesse Martinez were arrested at the time. Schofield died before his May 2020 sentencing. Martinez, 60, was sentenced to 1-4 years but has since been paroled.

A third man, Josue Abrica Magallon, 26, was sentenced to 12-30 months on a charge of attempted burglary in November 2021 and is still serving his sentence.