Two of the Covington County’s Worthless Check Unit’s most wanted have been charged witha total of 44 counts of negotiating a worthless instrument.

On Monday, the unit’s investigator, Shawn Bentley, arrested Devin Barrow and charged him with 29 counts of negotiating a worthless instrument. He is being held on an $87,000 bond.

His aunt, Nancy Barrow, also known as Nancy Cotton, was arrested on 15 counts of negotiating a worthless instrument, and is currently being held on a $45,000 bond.

The first bad check was turned into the District Attorney’s office in September, where collection attempts began immediately. Bentley and worthless check unit coordinator Jeremie Shaffer had contacted the offenders by mail, phone and in person on numerous occasions.

By law, anyone who writes a worthless check has 10 days to pay the check before being subject to having a warrant signed against them.

“We would rather people just pay their obligations,” Shaffer said. “But when you write dozens of bad checks and then give us the runaround about payment, you leave us no choice but to conclude that you are what we call a ‘serial check writer’.”

District Attorney Walt Merrell said, “We want the citizens and merchants in Covington County to know that we take worthless check writing very seriously. We do everything possible and use all of the resources at our disposal to collect the money that is owed to our victims. But, if the offender forces our hand, we will use the long arm of the law to bring about justice.”

If you have a business in Covington County, the District Attorney’s Office has important information for you that will help expedite the collection process. Please contact Jeremie Shaffer, Worthless Check Unit Coordinator, at (334) 222-2513 for more information.