Pittsburg man pleads guilty in bad-check case

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October 31, 2012

Pittsburg man pleads guilty in bad-check case

The Joplin Globe Wed Oct 31, 2012, 12:30 AM CDT

PITTSBURG, Kan. — A 25-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to defrauding several businesses in Crawford County by writing worthless checks.

Kent Debusk, of Pittsburg, pleaded guilty at a hearing in Crawford County District Court to a felony count of theft by deception. He will be sentenced Dec. 18.

The defendant was arrested on the charge Oct. 12 following an investigation involving the Crawford County sheriff’s office and police in Pittsburg, Arma, Frontenac and Girard.

District Attorney Michael Gayoso said Debusk passed checks in August of this year at 16 businesses in five towns in the county. The checks were written on an account that had been opened with an amount of money insufficient to cover any of the checks, the prosecutor said. Rather than charge Debusk with several misdemeanor counts, the charges were rolled into a single felony count for prosecution, Gayoso said.

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