A Butler woman is facing felony forgery and identity theft charges after police said she deposited a fraudulent U.S. Treasury check at the Clearview Federal Credit Union in Butler Township.

Shawna M. Smeal, 46, was charged Thursday, Oct. 3, with felony charges of conspiracy to commit forgery, forgery, access device fraud, theft and three counts of identity theft, as well as a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. She was placed in the county prison in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Township police said a fraud detection and prevention employee of the credit union reported that on Sept. 9 a woman who identified herself as Susan Friedman and had a Virginia driver’s license, entered the credit union and deposited a $17,783 U.S. Treasury check to open an account. The credit union later determined the check was fraudulent, according to an affidavit.

When the woman returned Sept. 27 in an attempt to freeze the account, police responded and identified her as Smeal, according to the complaint.

During a search conducted when she was taken into custody, police said they found a debit card linked to the account she opened under the name of Susan Friedman, another debit card under Susan Friedman’s name and bag containing what Smeal said was fentanyl, according to the affidavit.

When Smeal was interviewed by police, she said she was part of an organized crime organization ran by two men from New York, who would provide her and others with fraudulent treasury checks and state identification cards, and then transport them to different locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York to cash the checks, according to the affidavit.

She told officers that she was compensated with housing, money and drugs, and that a man she was with on Sept. 9 also worked for the organization, according to the affidavit.

While taking an inventory of Smeal’s belongings, police said they found a Florida driver’s license with her photo but the information for another woman. Police contacted the other woman, who said she did not know Smeal, and reported that someone cashed her federal income tax return in Philadelphia, according to the affidavit. A New Jersey license with Smeal’s photo and identification information of another woman, who also told police she did not know Smeal, was also found, according to the affidavit.