Medina Resident Sentenced for Forging Court Documents

Memphis, TN – A Medina resident has been sentenced to federal prison for forgery of a court document. U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant for the Western District of Tennessee announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, Jay Richard Hassman, 52, of Medina, Tennessee, had outstanding debts with various creditors. Hassman created a fictitious restraining order, bearing a forged digital signature of U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman, stating that the creditors were restrained from "reprocessing, beginning the foreclosure process, shutting off utilities, eviction proceedings and/or other services until May 19, 2016." The order also required the creditors to negotiate Hassman’s debts and credit him any fees. He sent the order to several of his creditors.

On February 28, 2018, Hassman was sentenced to eight months imprisonment by U.S. Senior District Judge Samuel H. Mays, Jr., consecutive to 11 months currently serving in Tipton County on an unrelated matter, followed by 3 years supervised release.

This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean DeCandia prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.