For the 30th time, Margie P. Shephard, 53, of Kansas City, Mo., is headed back behind bars—this time for trying to forge her way out of the system by fabricating a federal court order to spring a fellow inmate from prison. The move, brazen even by federal crime standards, landed her an additional three years and five months without parole, handed down today by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark in the Western District of Missouri.
Shephard, already serving a 10-year sentence for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, identity theft, and prior obstruction of justice at Federal Prison Camp-Bryan in Texas, hatched the scheme from within the prison walls. On two separate dates—November 9 and November 28, 2014—she mailed a forged document to her sister, who then faxed it from a Sunfresh grocery store in Kansas City. The fake order, labeled an “Amended Judgment in a Criminal Case,” claimed inmate Leann Raejeana Turner of Blue Springs, Mo., had her sentence slashed to 120 days—meaning immediate release. It bore the forged signature of U.S. District Judge Greg Kays.
Turner, serving three years for her role in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme, stood to walk free if the forgery had gone undetected. But prison officials weren’t fooled. The document reeked of fraud—typographical errors, wildly inconsistent sentencing reductions, and a judicial signature that didn’t match. Investigators quickly flagged it as counterfeit, tracing the paper trail back to Shephard, who later admitted to the crime when she pleaded guilty on August 3, 2017.
This wasn’t some rookie mistake. Shephard’s rap sheet is a criminal encyclopedia: 30 felony convictions, 11 misdemeanors—most tied to fraud. She’s previously been convicted of aggravated escape from custody—twice—after fleeing lawful detention. Each time, she was caught, sentenced, and returned. Yet still, she gambled on another con, this time attempting to manipulate the federal judiciary itself.
The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rudolph R. Rhodes, IV, who called the forgery “a direct assault on the integrity of the federal court system.” Judge Ketchmark didn’t mince words at sentencing, emphasizing that tampering with court orders undermines public trust and will be met with severe consequences.
Now, Shephard’s 10-year sentence just got longer. With no parole in the federal system, her new term runs consecutively, extending her stay in prison for crimes that never stopped—even behind bars. The message is clear: you can’t forge justice and expect to walk free.
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Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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