Crime & Safety

St. Charles Forgery Arrest May Be Part of Large Ring

Attempt to purchase six rolls of "Forever" stamps may be part of ring buying stamps illicitly, then selling the stamps off for cash.

A man charged with forgery and possession of a fraudulent driver’s license may have given postal authorities the information they need to make a federal case of the incident.

Brian Eugene Woodhouse, 54, of the 7600 block of Luella Street, Chicago, who was arrested at 2:42 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, at the St. Charles Post Office, 2600 Oak St., has been charged with forgery, a Class 3 felony, and possession of a fraudulent identification, a Class 4 felony.

Woodhouse was told he would not face federal charges.

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Postal inspectors, however, who interviewed him when he tried to purchase six rolls of “Forever” stamps with a forged check, believe he may be part of a larger ring and have asked to interview him a second time.

Woodhouse is being held in the Kane County Jail.

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The incident unfolded Tuesday afternoon when authorities say Woodhouse tried to purchase six rolls of “Forever” stamps with a $322 check.

Postal authorities called St. Charles police when they suspected the check was forged and that Woodhouse was using a fraudulent driver’s license.

Woodhouse told a St. Charles police officer and a postal inspector who spoke with him while he was detained at the post office that the checks were stolen, but that he had not stolen them. He said they probably had been pick pocketed from someone in Chicago. A friend he named as Ron Johnson had given Woodhouse the checks, and had dropped him off at the St. Charles Post Office to buy the stamps.

Woodhouse told authorities that before he was detained in St. Charles, he had visited about four other suburban post offices on Tuesday.

Later, authorities interviewed Woodhouse again at the St. Charles Police Department, after reading him his Miranda rights, which the report states Woodhouse waived.

During the interview, he told police the stamps he purchased were to be resold, and he was to receive about $200 for his role. He told authorities that Ron Johnson also had provided Woodhouse with the fake driver’s license, in the name of one of the people listed on the checks, so that he could write the checks using that name.

Authorities did trace the checks back to a Chicago woman who had reported them stolen. The fake driver’s license had been made with her son’s name, which was on the checking account.

Police received a call from another postal inspector who wants to interview Woodhouse again. Federal authorities believe Woodhouse’s arrest may be related to “a large ring of people” doing the same thing.

Woodhouse is being held in the Kane County Jail. In addition to the local charges, police said he also is being held on a Champaign County warrant for failure to appear on a charge of driving on a suspended license.

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