By Patti Weaver

 

  (Stillwater, Okla.)  — A teenager alleged to be part of a criminal group operating in multiple counties has been jailed on $25,000 bail pending his arraignment this week on a Payne County charge accusing him of stealing $3,447 cash, a credit card, 16 checks and blank company checks from a Stillwater pest control business where he worked for about a week.
    Adam Markuss Stemple, 19, of Afton, was arrested at a Sand Springs residence by Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers on June 12, according to a grand larceny charge filed last week.
    “Beginning in early March of 2024, there has been a conspiratorial organized criminal group consisting mainly of Adam Stemple (and two others), who have been committing crimes in multiple counties in Oklahoma. This group is suspected of crimes ranging from mail theft, identity theft, check fraud, credit card fraud, extortion, drug trafficking, burglaries, motor vehicle theft, firearm violations, and a drive-by shooting,” Myers’ affidavit alleged.
    “These crime locations range from Lincoln, Payne, Creek, Tulsa and Delaware County,” where Stemple is originally from, according to Myers, who began investigating the group around April 27, the affidavit alleged.
    On June 3 at 8:49 am, Payne County Sheriff’s Patrol Sgt. Dalton Ross had been dispatched to a Stillwater pest control business where a staff employee noticed multiple items had been taken from the office including a credit card, 16 checks from customers written to the business totaling $2,732, a lock box containing $3,447, and blank company checks, the affidavit alleged.
    The staff suspected that a new employee, Adam Stemple, who “had worked there for a week and was a no-call, no-show on this date,” was responsible, the affidavit alleged.
    Stemple, who had been dropped off at the shop on May 31 at about 4:30 pm, said “he was waiting for a ride and was left at the shop,” the affidavit alleged. “They believe this was when Stemple took the items because he was the only one at the business,” the affidavit alleged.
    On June 2 at 9:13 am, the credit card was used in Stillwater for a declined amount of $317.99 and a successful transaction of $29.48; the credit card was used in Tulsa the same day for $41.26, the affidavit alleged.
    On June 4 at about 5:50 pm, Stemple went to a Sand Springs business where he cashed a counterfeit/forged check made out to himself using the pest control business’s checking account information, the affidavit alleged. “The check was counterfeited using software to make it out to Stemple,” the affidavit alleged.
    On June 5 at about 5:50 pm, Stemple went to a bank in Sand Springs where he tried to pass a counterfeited check from the pest control business for $5,000, but a teller noticed the signature did not match the one on file for the business and notified the business owner, who said the check was fraudulent, the affidavit alleged.
    “The teller stalled Stemple and called Sand Springs police,” who arrested him for suspected forgery in Tulsa County and took him to jail where he was bailed out by an associate on June 6, the affidavit alleged.
    On June 12, the Payne County sheriff’s investigator was granted a search warrant by Tulsa County Special District Judge Rodney Sparkman for a Sand Springs residence where he arrested Stemple for grand larceny in Stillwater, the affidavit alleged.
    “Upon searching the residence, I found an overwhelming amount of evidence consistent with check fraud and identity theft, including blank check paper, a printer designed only to print checks, a laptop computer, and printed counterfeit checks made out to the suspects. I located counterfeited Oklahoma paper driver’s licenses with photos of the suspects but with names of victims to include victim names from mail thefts in Payne County,” the Payne County sheriff’s investigator alleged in his affidavit.