Bogus Checks Draw 28 Years

A 55-year-old Meridian man has been sentenced to 28 years in prison for passing $15 million in bogus checks linked to the freemen in Montana.

Jerry Michael Steele will have to serve at least 14 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Steele, who was sentenced on Thursday, used the checks - some signed by jailed freemen leader LeRoy Schweitzer - to buy a town in Nevada, property in Emmett and open a bank account.

After defending himself at trial last month, he was convicted in less than three hours by a jury in a case Deputy Ada County Prosecutor Roger Bourne said was all about greed.