Embattled area house mover Michael Trevino and business partner Shannon Keeves will be arrested if they fail to show up next week in a Wyoming courtroom, a Fargo judge ruled Friday.
The two failed to appear in Cass County District Court Friday for an extradition hearing involving criminal charges filed against them in Wyoming.
East Central District Judge Michael McGuire agreed to stay the arrest warrants until next Friday, after Dennis Fisher, the attorney for Trevino and Keeves, said the two were en route to Sheridan, Wyo., to face charges of felony fraud by check.
Trevino, 36, and Keeves, 35, both 125 11th St. W., West Fargo, are accused of passing bad checks totaling nearly $1,200 at several Sheridan businesses while they were there last August to move a house.
"They knew they had a hearing today and that it was important to appear," Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick told McGuire.
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McGuire ordered that the bail bond posted by Trevino and Keeves be forfeited if the two fail to appear by Friday.
Trevino and Keeves each posted $1,100 bond to be released from jail pending the outcome of the check-fraud charges.
Trevino's legal woes, however, go beyond bad-check claims.
He also is awaiting an October criminal trial in Wyoming that charges he defrauded an auto dealership.
Trevino bought a pickup at a Sheridan dealership but stopped payment on the check and never intended to pay for it, said Sheridan County Prosecutor Stuart Healy.
Trevino says he stopped payment because the truck was a lemon.
In May, East Central District Judge Wade Webb temporarily halted Trevino and Keeves from moving buildings. North Dakota's consumer protection division sought the injunction while building a consumer fraud case against Trevino, Keeves and their business, Triumph Inc., for several unfinished moves.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Zent at (701) 241-5526
