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A former University of Maine student was brought before a judge Friday in 3rd District Court in Bangor to answer to three felony charges of forgery and misuse of identification. Kelly McMann, 22, of Biddeford, entered a “no appearance” plea to the charges, which resulted from her alleged theft of her roommate’s MaineCard in 2002.
McMann said she will not enter a plea until she is appointed an attorney.
McMann allegedly used the card to forge documentation necessary to obtain a new MaineCard, a Latti Fitness pass, and other university items. According to Public Safety officials, McMann completed a form to have a new card issued, using her roommate’s name and other personal information. McMann allegedly told MaineCard Office workers that she had lost her card and needed a replacement. Since the card was being reissued, the staff did not check a second source of identification, took McMann’s photo and issued her a card, Public Safety officials said. The MaineCard had full access, complete with library privileges, IT and MaineBound access.
“[McMann] applied for a Latti Fitness [pass], and used the account to print stuff out at IT,” said Detective Chris Gardner of Public Safety.
McMann has not been enrolled as a student at the university since she was forcibly withdrawn by Student Records in March of 2002. McMann, who was living off-campus with the victim, did not inform friends of her withdrawal and returned to the area the following fall semester pretending to be a student, Gardner said. In November of 2002, McMann applied for the MaineCard and began using it for admission to hockey games, Alfond Arena skating time, to print on Information Technologies’ Pharos print system, and for Latti fitness passes.
“She just wanted to continue doing student things [as a non-student],” said Lt. Mike Zubick of Public Safety.
In May of 2003, the card holder began noticing charges that she did not remember making. She was contacted by Fogler Library and asked to return a book and pay fines for literature she did not check out. She noticed a charge of $11.30 on her student account for printing in IT clusters and was charged for a Latti fitness pass, even though she had never been to Latti, Zubick said.
When the card holder later lost her own MaineCard, which she did not frequently use because she lives off campus, she returned to the MaineCard office and filled out the appropriate paper work. A worker in the office asked if she wanted to use her old picture, and the victim immediately recognized the photo as McMann, Zubick said.
The card holder then filed a complaint with UMaine Public Safety. Following the close of the spring semester in 2003, McMann left the area and investigators had difficulty contacting her. Copies of the Latti fitness application and MaineCard application revealed that McMann had forged her roommate’s signature. When investigators finally located her, McMann told police she wanted to enjoy the perks of being a student even though she was no longer enrolled as one, Zubick said.
McMann was charged with two Class D forgeries for obtaining the MaineCard and Latti pass. She was also charged with a Class D misuse of identification charge for using the MaineCard to obtain the Latti pass.
McMann is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 27.
