Cape Girardeau man faces felony forgery charges

A man suspected of forging titles to eight cars and collecting nearly $10,000 will face trial on felony forgery charges, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

Edward B. Pierce, 50, of Cape Girardeau, was a contracted purchaser for three months at Heartland Auto Plaza when he sold eight cars cars to JP's Auto Sales between July 18 and Sept. 26. Pierce's contract stated that he could not collect money on sales and that only the owner's father was authorized to sign the titles.

During a preliminary hearing, Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp ruled there was enough evidence to charge Pierce with eight counts of felony forgery. Arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 7. He is being held on $15,000 cash/surety bond. Assistant public defender Jason Tilley represented Pierce.

Owner Brian Godair noticed two vehicles missing from his lot on Aug. 31 and could not locate the titles and bills, he said under questioning by assistant prosecuting attorney Julie Hunter. Since Pierce had purchased both vehicles, he suspected that he possibly sold them.

JP's Auto Sales buys only with cash and deals with the same types of vehicles, so Godair inquired if they had purchased the vehicles. Upon arriving, he noticed the two cars in the lot, along with other vehicles that Pierce had initially purchased for Heartland Auto Plaza. Further inventory investigations determined that eight used cars were sold to JP's Auto Sales by Pierce.

Godair confronted Pierce about the purchases.

"He said that he did it and that he would make it up to me," Godair said. Pierce told him that he sold the cars in order to pay restitution for another incident. No money has been retrieved from Pierce and six of the eight titles were returned. Two cars were sold before they could be recovered.

Pierce received between $675 to $1,600 in cash for each purchase.

jmetelski@semissourian.com