Dennis Jerome Currie, 30, Minot, was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison, all suspended but the 108 days he has already served in the Ward County Jail, and three years of supervised probation for Class B felony unauthorized use of personal identifying information to obtain credit and Class C felony forgery.

Other charges were dismissed under the terms of a plea deal, including Class B felony leading a criminal organization, Class C felony conspiracy to commit forgery, Class C felony conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of personal identifying information and Class C felony conspiracy to commit theft.

Judge Richard Hagar also ordered Currie to pay $775 in court costs and restitution yet to be determined.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Currie used a fake name and a credit card with a damaged chip that caused a chip reading malfunction when it was placed into a machine at First Western Bank on Dec. 30, 2019. Currie appeared to contact his bank by phone and passed his phone to the bank teller so she could speak with his “bank representative,” who directed the teller to complete and override the transaction so it could be approved. The bank teller then gave Currie $4,900 in cash. Further investigation revealed that the credit card was forged and the supposed issuer of the card had no record of the account. The identification he presented was also fraudulent. Currie has been charged with similar crimes in other jurisdictions, including multiple cities in Minnesota and in Fargo, Rugby, Jamestown, and Valley City in North Dakota. Currie is believed to have worked with multiple accomplices in perpetuating the scam, according to the affidavit, and to have used multiple aliases.