A Lewis County Superior Court judge has issued a nationwide arrest warrant for an Illinois woman accused of stealing $8,000 from a Lewis County resident by cashing a fraudulent check.
Alexis Grayer, 29, of Rockford, Illinois, did not appear for a scheduled appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Tuesday, July 29, leading Judge Paul Strophy to issue the warrant, with bail set at $10,000.
Grayer is charged with first-degree identity theft and first-degree theft, both Class B felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. She’s also charged with forgery, a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
A Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a theft complaint in Morton on April 25. A woman told the deputy she had received a phone call from the Navy Federal Credit Union informing her someone had cashed an $8,000 check from her account and that the transaction appeared to be fraudulent.
The victim contacted her bank and provided a copy of the fraudulent check to the deputy, who inspected it and noted it was made out to Alexis Grayer in the amount of $8,000. The victim stated she did write the check, but it was made out to UScellular in the amount of $59.53 as recorded in her checkbook registry. She said all the original information she wrote on the check appeared to be “washed out” and replaced with new information.
The deputy noted that the check was stamped on the back, showing it had been cashed in person. He made contact with the Navy Federal Credit Union, which provided surveillance footage showing a Black woman cash the check at the Gurnee, Illinois, branch. The money was deposited into an account owned by Grayer.
“On May 12, 2025, (the deputy) requested and received a search warrant for the Navy Federal Credit Union bank records of Alexis Grayer,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed by prosecutors. “On June 10, 2025, (the deputy) received the requested bank records. The records included a copy of the fraudulent check. (The deputy) called Alexis Grayer, who admitted she owned the account and that she had been informed of fraudulent activity on her account. Grayer denied being involved but stated she did not file a police report. (The deputy) requested Grayer send him some photos of herself, which she did. (The deputy) noticed the person in the photos provided by Grayer matched the person from the ATM photos.”
In court Tuesday, defense attorney Rachael Tiller said she had been in contact with Grayer, who said she would attend the hearing. Grayer provided Tiller with a home address in Illinois, but it was one of the same addresses where the prosecutor’s office had sent a summons to appear in court, which was returned as undeliverable.
Rather than send a new summons to the same address, Strophy chose to issue the arrest warrant.
