West heads to jail

Published 11:12 pm Thursday, August 7, 2014

A Selma woman will head to the Dallas County Jail Friday, where she will spend the next 46 months.

Dorita Lynn West pleaded guilty late last week to multiple charges of theft, forgery and negotiating with a worthless instrument. District Attorney Michael Jackson said she is scheduled to report to jail before the end of the day Friday.

West, 535 Briarcliff Ave., was arrested on two counts of theft of property first on June 16, 2013, but additional charges were added following an investigation by the Selma Police Department.

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West was originally jailed in mid-June 2013 after an investigation showed she had attempted to con an elderly woman out of her car and her home.

After her arrest, Jackson said investigators discovered West had cashed four fraudulent checks valued at more than $4,000 at a local bank.

The investigators also learned she had swindled money from at least five other victims, using a variety of schemes.

In a previous story, the Times-Journal reported West had taken money from different victims, promising them the money would serve as down payment on a car and for deposit and repairs for an apartment, none of which ever came to fruition.

Jackson said Circuit Judge Jack Meigs ordered West to pay over $10,000 in restitution to her victims, along with the jail time.

Jackson said investigators at the Selma Police Department should be thanked for the work they did to uncover West’s multiple thefts.

“Dorita was one of Selma’s biggest crooks, and now we have to clean her sticky fingers,” he said