Man sentenced to two years for forging letter from employer to get out of jail

Online Staff Report

Marcellus Motton, 25, pled guilty June 29 to the offense of perjury and was sentenced to two years in the Illinois Department of Corrections by Judge Fernando Engelsma.

Aug. 22, 2011, Motton was a defendant in the case of People v. Motton, 2011CF2084, and had not posted bail. Aug. 22, 2011, a bond motion on behalf of Motton was heard before Judge C. Robert Tobin III. Motton was placed under oath and testified that he was employed at a company called Rockford Bolts and Metals. Motton further testified he would be able to keep his employment if he were to be released from jail.

Motton provided Judge Tobin a letter dated Aug. 19, 2011, from Juan Deijing from QPS Employment Group. The letter stated that if Motton were released that he would be able to return to work on the following business day. Motton was granted a recognizance bond by Judge Tobin.

Dec. 29, 2011, Sgt. Bruno listened to jail tapes of conversations between Marcellus Motton and Shenika Price. On a tape from Aug. 21, 2011, Motton asked Price if she was coming to court Aug. 22, 2011, and if she had printed out the paper. Price said she had not printed out that paper and needed a QPS logo. Motton then directed Price to go to the QPS website and cut and paste the logo onto a Word document. Rockford Police Sgt. Bruno later learned from QPS that Motton’s letter was inaccurate, against company policy, and that Motton was never promised that he could return to work. Sgt. Bruno also learned that there was no one by the name of “Juan Deijing” who worked at QPS and that Motton’s letter had the wrong company name on it.

Perjury is a class 3 felony punishable from two to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, followed by one year of mandatory supervised release.

Posted July 12, 2012