Formal charges, including seven felony counts, have been filed in Carroll County District Court against a Carroll woman accused of theft and check fraud. Court records show 33-year-old Stephanie Jean Winter faces one count of second-degree theft and six counts of forgery, class D felonies, and one count of third-degree theft, an aggravated misdemeanor. A Carroll Police Department affidavit alleges Winter wrote multiple fraudulent or alternate checks to area businesses in August and September, totaling more than $1,600. Winter’s arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 9. The charges carry a combined maximum penalty of up to 37 years in prison and nearly $60,000 in fines. Winter is currently on probation from a Sept. 29 conviction in Carroll County District Court for assault while displaying a dangerous weapon, an aggravated misdemeanor, for intentionally hitting a man with her car earlier this year.
