Woman pleads guilty to writing $9,000 in bad checks

A Libby woman on Monday pleaded guilty to issuing more than $9,000 in bad checks to companies around the area.

Vanessa Nicole Maniord, 36, of Libby, pleaded guilty in accordance to a plea agreement to issuing bad checks, a felony. Maniord signed the plea agreement on Monday, in which the county attorney’s office recommends she be sentenced to three years suspended and restitution payments of over $9,000 spent at businesses throughout Lincoln County earlier this year.

Maniord’s sentencing is set for Sept. 12 before District Judge James Wheelis.

Libby police arrested Maniord on May 26 after Lincoln County Detective David Hall received a report of a bad check from Dream Marine in Libby. The name and signature on the check, belonging to Maniord, matched a similar report from a few days earlier, when Libby Sports Center also reported a bad check. Court documents say that a background check on Maniord turned up multiple felony convictions and a stint at California state prison. She has also been previously charged with grand theft, burglary, multiple possessions of a controlled substance and failure to appear for a felony hearing.

On the day of the arrest, Hall spoke with staff at Libby Sports Center, who told him that Maniord had written a check for $509 on May 17 and nearly $50 the day before.

After speaking with several businesses where Maniord had written bad checks in the past month, Hall found that Maniord had spent about $9,873 from her bank account.

Libby police arrested Maniord on May 26 and in an interview with Hall, Maniord said she believed she had $8,000 in her account. She said she had deposited just $500 in the account when she opened it a month earlier and had received two payments, $2,800 and $3,800 from an online loan program.

During the interview, Maniord allegedly told Hall that she had written checks “all over,” including the Murdoch’s store and mall in Kalispell.

Maniord initially entered a not guilty plea to the district court on June 27, but withdrew her plea and signed the plea agreement on Monday, agreeing to a three-year suspended sentence and no fine, although she will be required to pay restitution.

Maniord’s sentencing is set for Aug. 12.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.