Arrest warrant issued for Malden, Mo., woman on suspicion of forging college transcript

An admissions office employee at Southeast Missouri State University noticed problems with a transcript purporting to show high grades and a lengthy list of classes for a prospective student, and now that applicant may end up enrolled in the state prison system.

A warrant was issued Friday for Danielle M. Feagin, 22, of Malden, Mo., charged in Cape Girardeau County with a single count of forgery for attempting to obtain admission and merit-based scholarships worth thousands of dollars with a fake transcript from Three Rivers Community College. If convicted, Feagin faces up to seven years in prison.

According to a sworn statement filed with the complaint, a transcript was delivered Aug. 9 to the admissions office at Southeast showing that Feagin had a perfect 4.0 grade point average and 89 credit hours to transfer to Southeast. The transcript, however, had several problems, Poplar Bluff Police Department investigator David Sutton wrote. When given to Three Rivers admissions office director Marcia Fields, she verified that it had altered numbers, no watermark, a font not used on Three Rivers transcripts, no page numbering and the wrong signature for the date it was issued, Sutton wrote.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said several of those problems were noticed at the Southeast admissions office.

"She was applying for thousands of dollars worth of scholarships," Swingle said. "An alert person in SEMO's admission office had seen so many transcripts she recognized the font was not right and that it had no watermark."

According to Sutton's statement, Feagin actually had accumulated 37 credit hours at Three Rivers, with a grade-point average of 2.4. When he interviewed Feagin about the transcript, she admitted that she was the one who delivered it to Southeast but claimed that the information, showing a 4.0 grade point average and 89 credit hours, was correct.

Feagin continued to insist the transcript she gave Southeast was accurate after being shown a copy of her actual transcript Sutton obtained from Three Rivers, he wrote.

The admissions office at Three Rivers also provided information showing Feagin had never been enrolled in many of the courses listed on her transcript, Sutton wrote.

Bond for Feagin was set at $5,000 cash.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

2080 Three Rivers Boulevard, Poplar Bluff, Mo.

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Malden, Mo.