Judge Doug Mattson agreed to dismiss multiple felony charges without prejudice Thursday against Ebony Janise Nordelus, 34, of Coral Springs, Fla., and Xavier Avanti Taylor, 26, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Nordelus was stopped for a traffic violation while she was driving a rented minivan in September. Police searched the vehicle and found a grocery bag containing multiple stolen IDs and credit cards, according to court documents. At a hearing earlier this year, then Ward County Deputy State’s Attorney Kelly Dillon told the judge that the prosecution could not prove that Nordelus and Taylor stole any of the IDs, credit cards or blank checks found, though they had a strong suspicion that they did. Ward County State’s Attorney Roza Larson told the judge that it wasn’t clear if Ward County has jurisdiction in any of the theft cases. However, Dillon said at the previous hearing that Nordelus and Taylor were alleged to be in possession of the multiple stolen items in Ward County.

Dillon, who is leaving the state’s attorney’s office, had said at the previous hearing that the prosecution suspects Nordelus and Taylor are low level members of a group called the Felony Lane Gang that steals credit cards and IDs from cars parked outside different locations. Money stolen is then passed on to a higher level member of the gang. The stolen items were reportedly taken from locations in Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana and Bismarck. According to the FBI, the Felony Lane Gang is a group of organized burglary and identity theft rings that originated in southern Florida and operates in multiple locations across the United States. Different theft rings often operate independently, but follow the same mode of operation.

In January, Mattson refused to accept a proposed plea deal for Nordelus that would have called for her to plead guilty to five Class C felonies and be sentenced to 360 days in jail, all suspended but the five days she had already served, and two years of unsupervised probation. Instead, Mattson had ordered a trial that was scheduled to begin next week. Each Class C possession of stolen property charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Had they been convicted of all charges at trial, in theory both Nordelus and Taylor could have faced a maximum of 115 years in prison. In practice, though, sentencing guidelines call for the far lighter sentences such as presumptive probation.

Dillon filed a motion to dismiss the charges on April 23. In her motion, she wrote that state law would require presumptive probation for both Nordelus and Taylor. When Mattson rejected the plea deal for Nordelus, Dillon wrote that he was asking the state to bring 23 witnesses to court for trial and pay for their food and lodging and transportation. Only two of the alleged victims are from North Dakota.

“The State believes that the taxpayers’ dollars are better spent trying cases where justice can be served, rather than a presumptive probation case,” wrote Dillon.

Mattson questioned Larson on Thursday about why her office was dropping the charges and called it “curious.” Mattson noted that both Nordelus and Taylor were originally charged in September with just five Class C felony possession of stolen property charges. Though it now claims it would be too expensive to try the case, the prosecutor’s office added about 18 more charges each last fall for Nordelus and Taylor, after Burleigh County had already dropped charges against them. The Ward County State’s Attorney’s Office also objected when Nordelus wanted to return to Florida and she was forced to remain in North Dakota for several months while the charges were pending.

Larson acknowledged Thursday that she was not completely familiar with the file, which had been Dillon’s case, and that none of the alleged victims of Nordelus and Taylor were notified that the prosecution filed to dismiss the charges.

Taylor has not made any of his scheduled court appearances since his release from jail and a bench warrant had been issued for his arrest. Mattson also questioned why he should drop the charges against Taylor under those circumstances.

Neither defendant was present in the courtroom on Thursday. Nordelus, who had returned to Florida, listened to the hearing via conference call with the permission of the court. Eric Baumann, defense attorney for Nordelus, and Ashley Flagstad, defense attorney for Taylor, both urged Mattson to sign off on the dismissals and noted that a prosecutor has discretion on whether to prosecute. Baumann added that the case might be difficult to prove against Nordelus if it did go to trial.

In the end, Mattson did sign the order of dismissal for 23 Class C possession of stolen property charges each against Nordelus and Taylor. He also vacated the bench warrant against Taylor.