Woman given probation for forging community college transcript

A Malden, Mo., woman who tried to gain acceptance to Southeast Missouri State University last fall with a fake transcript will not be booked into the prison system.

Danielle M. Feagin, 22, who pleaded guilty to felony forgery April 12, was sentenced Monday to three years of supervised probation by Circuit Court Judge Benjamin F. Lewis.

The phony transcript Feagin sent to Southeast was meant to look like a document from Three Rivers Community College. It showed she received a 4.0 grade point average and 89 credit hours. Feagin actually received a 2.4 GPA and only completed 37 credit hours.

An admissions office employee was the first to notice problems with the transcript. The Southeast employee had seen a number of transcripts, so she recognized the font was not correct and that it had no watermark.

Feagin told Lewis last month she hoped the transcript would get her quickly accepted to the four-year university in Cape Girardeau.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said there were many favorable things said about Feagin in a pre-sentence investigation ordered by the judge at her April plea hearing. The prosecution recommended she serve a suspended imposition of sentence and be put on probation.

"If she serves that three years without committing any new offenses or doing anything to revoke probation, that file becomes closed to the public," Swingle said.

ehevern@semissourian.com

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