The Selma Times-Journal

A Montgomery woman was arrested this week and charged with 10 counts of forgery and theft, along with other federal charges in Montgomery.

Vinessa Wooten Donatelli, 33, was charged Tuesday with five counts of forgery and five counts of theft after allegedly stealing about $20,000 from a local businessman.

Selma Police Lt. Susan Smith said Donatelli used her business relationship to gain information, then made bogus copies of checks, which she allegedly helped herself with.

“She was supposed to be setting up a company’s books on computer when she got access to check information,” Smith said. “Then she made computer-generated checks.”

Donatelli, who was appearing before a federal judge in a Montgomery court, was arrested and transported to Selma. She was charged and released, police said. She is also facing federal charges.

“She was appearing on some other charges, and when they got through with her, we got her,” Smith said.

The charges stem back to 2003 activities when she allegedly deposited some of the unauthorized funds into a business account of Donatelli Associates.

Selma police worked in conjunction with the United States Secret Service to secure the arrest.

Donatelli also has federal charges for similar type crimes in other jurisdictions, police said.