In the following press release the Shasta County (CA) District Attorney announced that a Redding man was sentenced to sixteen months in State Prison following his convictions for passing non-sufficient funds checks. Judge Richard McEachen sentenced Joshua Gervolstad, 30, to the prison term following his guilty pleas to writing $6,974.08 in checks on closed bank accounts to various creditors in 2007 and 2008. Even after Gervolstad was arrested and prosecuted for writing the first group of bad checks, he continued to write checks on the closed accounts, resulting in additional charges being filed. Over the past few years, Gervolstad has worked for numerous Redding-area mortgage brokers, processing loans and refinancing properties.

At the time of the crimes, Gervolstad was on probation, stemming from a felony conviction for Embezzlement from 2006. In that case, he bilked an investor out of $90,000.00, claiming the investor was purchasing properties in Southern California. Gervolstad falsified title documents and deeds for the properties the investor had bought as rentals. When the rents failed to materialize, the investor did some checking and determined that the money he’d given Gervolstad had never been used to make the purchases. Gervolstad eventually made full restitution to the investor.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Erin M. Dervin, and investigated by the Redding Police Department Investigator Rob Wilson. Questions about this case should be directed to Erin M. Dervin at the District Attorney’s Office at 245-6300.