Saturday, September 20th, 2025
Fort couple faces dozens of theft, forgery charges
By William Kincaid
CELINA - A Fort Recovery couple was hit with 101 felony charges for allegedly stealing money and checks from an elderly person and committing forgery.
A Mercer County grand jury Thursday indicted Daniel E. and Lori M. Secrest each on 101 criminal counts, including a pair of third-degree felonies for stealing from a person in a protected class - an elderly person.
"In the state of Ohio, if your victim is 65 or older, they're considered to be part of a protected class, and as a result there is an enhanced penalty … a more serious felony level offense," Mercer County Prosecutor Erin Minor told The Daily Standard.
The other charges are all fifth-degree felonies. In total, each of the Secrests was charged with 34 theft charges, 34 theft and/or grand theft charges and 33 forgery charges.
The indictments are the culmination of a roughly nine-month investigation by the Mercer County Sheriff's Office launched when a local attorney serving as the unidentified victim's guardian discovered suspicious activity while reviewing the client's financial records, according to Minor.
From about Oct. 4, 2021, to Oct. 16, 2024, the Secrests stole property or services valued between $7,500 and $37,500, the indictment alleges.
The first pair of third-degree felony charges stem from the theft of money, one without the consent of the person authorized to give consent and the other beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the person authorized to give consent.
The other remaining counts pertain to stolen checks.
"There were 33 theft of check offenses, and they are each charged two different ways, the same way as the theft of the money," Minor explained. "And then there's a corresponding forgery (charge)."
Lori M. Secrest, 57, was arrested Friday morning by a Mercer County Sheriff's Office deputy and taken to the Mercer County jail, online court documents show.
She made her initial appearance in Mercer County Common Pleas Court on Friday afternoon. She was released upon her own recognizance and ordered to abide by numerous conditions, including refraining from alcohol and drug use, being in an establishment that serves alcohol by the drink and having any contact with her husband or the victim.
Court documents list her attorney as Mercer County public defender Thomas Lucente Jr.
Judge Matthew K. Fox set a pretrial for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Daniel E. Secrest, 55, was also arrested Friday morning by a sheriff's office deputy and taken to the Mercer County jail, according to online court documents.
He made his initial appearance in Mercer County Common Pleas Court on Friday afternoon and applied for assigned legal counsel. He remains in custody at the jail on a $200,000 bail subject to 10%, the sheriff's office online documents show.
Fox set an arraignment for 3 p.m. Tuesday.
