GALLMAN — A North Carolina man and his accomplice are facingfederal and local charges after a crime spree which spanned morethan five southern states, Copiah County authorities say.

Roger Glen Kornejay, 44, of 1456 Red Hill Road, Mt. Olive, N.C.,is facing local charges of nine counts of identification theft,supplying false information to a law officer, conspiracy to commita crime, switched tag and resisting arrest. Kornejay also facesnumerous warrants and charges from federal agencies and otherstates and municipalities including U.S. Treasury Departmentcharges of counterfeiting company checks and MississippiAgricultural Theft Bureau charges of possession of stolenproperty.

His accomplice, Jacky Davis, 47, whose last address is anArkansas penal institution, faces a local charge of conspiracy tocommit a felony. He is also being held on a Mississippi County,Ark., warrant for possession of a stolen vehicle and carrying itacross state lines. He was released from prison on May 20 and wasset for trial on the Arkansas charge Aug. 26.

“They’ve been in and out of the prison system since 1982,” saidCopiah County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Troy Davis.

Kornejay and Davis were arrested Tuesday at a Copiah Countyco-op. Both men are expected to be charged with other crimes as aninvestigation continues.

“It’s kind of snowballing right now,” Davis said.

Warrants are also expected from Magee, Vicksburg, Canton andRichland, where the pair had already made purchases, as well asother states and counties.

The scheme was complex, Davis said. The men would allegedlyvisit a co-op to purchase farm equipment and supplies.

Kornejay would print out a company check on a portable computerto pay for the purchase and sign it with one of nine differentidentities he had compiled, complete with social security cards,credit cards and even military identification cards.

“They hauled (the equipment and supplies) up to a farm locatedoff Highway 16 in Canton,” Davis said.

The capture was made, Davis said, because of the alertness of alocal co-op owner.

“They had been notified to be on the lookout for that red Jeep,”Davis said.

The owner noticed the Jeep in front of the co-op. While the twomen shopped in the store, the owner called the sheriff’s office andtold them two men with a red Jeep were at the store.

When a deputy approached them, Kornejay allegedly gave him afalse name and identification, Davis said. A search of the Jeep,stolen in Missouri, revealed a laptop computer with color-codedprinter, nine separate identities and stolen vehicle tags fromseveral states.

“He was actually printing his own company checks,” Davis said.”The guy’s checks were great. They looked official.”

Blank birth certificates and marriage licenses from NorthCarolina were also discovered. Kornejay’s established identitieswere from five states: Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, NorthCarolina and Missouri.

The men’s present activities were centered in Mississippi, butDavis said they had been active throughout the South.

“These men were operating in an area from North Carolina toMississippi to as far west as Oklahoma,” Davis said. “They’ve beenoperating in this area for the last month.”

The U.S. Treasury Department got involved, he said, when the menwrote more than $20,000 in checks under one company name in thelast three weeks in the local area.

An Agricultural Theft Bureau agent was investigating the men ata different co-op in the county when the call came in, Davis said.They had been hot on his trail for some time.

“They could almost get to him, but then he would switch names(used on the counterfeit company checks),” Davis said. “They wereslick.”

Davis said they are continuing to investigate the case andtracing any other activity, but their first step is to safeguardagainst any more victims.

“Our next step is to contact these people whose identity hestole,” he said. “They may not even know they’ve beencompromised.”

The investigation will also need to determine how much of thestolen equipment and supplies has been found on the Cantonproperty.