Roach Man Charged With Forging “Sick Note” To Get Out Of Court

Eric William Sutton, 55, who has previously been charged with fraudulently selling neon signs to Lake area businesses, is back in the news with an unusual charge of fraud: forging excuses from court by impersonating a medical doctor.

Sutton was facing felony charges for allegedly passing a bad check when the Circuit Clerk's Office of Camden County received three separate letters claiming to be from a doctor at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. The letters asked that Mr. Sutton be excused from his court proceedings due to various medical issues. Investigator Jared Lane reviewed the letters and learned that all three letters were sent from the same unsecured gmail account and listed some unusual reasons for release of court such as “broken nose and lacerations”, “scheduled for surgery” and, most notably, “head and face broken”

Beyond the the bizarre reasons and suspicious email, Lane knew that a doctor sending a letter that included private medical information would be a HIPPA violation, and that cast the letter further into doubt. Lane contacted the doctor that the letters were supposedly from and found that the documents were fraudulent.

“Based on the facts mentioned and the fact that Eric Sutton would be the only person to benefit from these documents being sent to the Camden County Associate Circuit Clerk I believe Mr. Sutton generated these documents and presented them as an authentic document in efforts to avoid appearance at a judicial proceeding,” Lane wrote in the probable cause document.

Sutton is now facing three charges of forgery and Camden County Prosecutor Caleb Cunningham has requested a no bond warrant for Sutton.