The state has dismissed a Class B felony theft of property charge against Michael Dale Gustafson, 50, of Carpio. His co-defendant, Susan Kaye Scheel Coons, 52, also of Carpio, entered not guilty pleas on Thursday in district court in Minot to a Class B felony theft of property charge in that case and to multiple charges in another case in which forgery and theft has been alleged.

A pre-trial conference in the cases is scheduled for Nov. 24.

According to court documents, Coons is accused of stealing farm equipment from a farmstead in Mountrail County in March. In a separate case, Coons had been charged with defrauding a Ward County family of more than $1 million worth of land in Ward and Mountrail Counties, Coons is charged in Ward County with Class A felony forgery, Class B felony deceptive writings, Class B felony unauthorized use of personal identifying information, and running a fraudulent website, a Class C felony. In Mountrail County district court, she is charged with two counts of Class A felony forgery, two counts of Class B felony deceptive writings, and Class A misdemeanor violation of a disorderly conduct restraining order. According to a complaint in the Ward County case, Coons forged and created false deeds that she registered with the Ward County Recorder’s Office to take possession of land to which she was not entitled and used the web site to advertise land for rent in which she had no valid interest and used the personal information of the alleged victims to transfer real estate to herself.

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