Lenoir Man to spend time in prison for financial crimes and admitting his status as a habitual felon

LENOIR, NC (September 27, 2019) — A Lenoir man was given an active prison sentence of 44 to 65 months after he was found guilty of financial crimes by a Caldwell County jury and admitted his status as a habitual felon on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

Dusty Ray Whisenant, 31, was given the prison term by the Honorable James W. Morgan, Superior Court Judge from Cleveland County, after the jury found him guilty on two counts of forgery and two counts of uttering forged instruments to wrap up a two-day trial.

Whisenant will serve his prison term in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.

His sentence length was enhanced by prior felony convictions for larceny (April 2006), possession of stolen goods (January 2007) and breaking and entering (January 2014), all in Caldwell County.

In December 2017, the defendant approached a female victim about buying a dishwasher. The victim wrote a check to Whisenant, who ended up with additional blank checks from the victim that he later used.

Whisenant and a co-defendant, Janna Good, were seen on video footage passing a check of the victim not written by her at a convenience store, and another was deposited in Good’s bank account.

Good also has been convicted for her role in the crimes.

Doug Dupell investigated the cases for the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Jennings handled prosecution for the State.