Ambulance driver pleads guilty to forgery

SANDPOINT — A former ambulance driver accused of going on a spending spree with a Priest River man’s financial transaction cards pleaded guilty Monday.

Jimmie Wayne Goodson is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21 in 1st District Court.

In an agreement with the state, Goodson pleaded guilty to two counts of transaction card forgery and one count of criminal possession of a transaction card. In exchange for the pleas, the state intends on dismissing two additional counts of criminal transaction card possession and a burglary charge.

The state would also agree not to file any additional charges and require Goodson to pay full restitution to the victim, who Priest River Police said is in his 70s and partially disabled.

The forgery charge is punishable by up to 14 years in prison and the criminal possession rap carries a punishment of up to five years in prison. The agreement proposes a prison sentence of two to four years, according to court records.

Goodson, a former driver for the Priest River EMT Association, allegedly took the cards from the man’s home on Sept. 23, 2008. The victim apparently left the door to his home unlocked so EMTs would have easy access to him in case of an emergency.

Goodson, police said, was aware of the unlocked door because he responded to a medical call on an earlier occasion. After the victim reported his checkbook and wallet missing, police noticed the cards were being used in stores and online.

Goodson legal troubles are far from over. At the time of his arrest, he was being sought on Kootenai County warrants alleging multiple fraudulent check charges, grand theft and forgery charges.