A Clinton man is facing a laundry list of felony offenses, including numerous forgery charges, after being linked to several incidents of theft and fraud in which he is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from his own family members.

Marshall Leonard Pope, 20, of 414 Wyre Branch Road, Clinton, has been charged with more than 40 separate counts of various offenses, including breaking and entering, larceny, forgery and uttering, possession of stolen goods and weapons charges. His brother, Miles Pope, 22, of the same address, is also facing a felony charge in one of the cases.

Marshall Pope is still under investigation by both the Clinton Police Department and Sampson County Sheriff’s Office and additional charges are expected, authorities said.

A vehicle being driven occupied by both men was stopped by Clinton police Det. Darryl Grady as it traveled on Susan Street Thursday. The driver, Miles Pope, had no insurance on the vehicle and was found in possession of a small amount of marijuana and some drug paraphernalia and charged.

The two men were asked to step from the vehicle. Police found six checks in Marshall Pope’s possession that did not belong to him and one check on Miles Pope. A subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a shotgun and a circular saw previously reported stolen in separate incidents from Andy Pope, Pope’s uncle.

Marshall Pope was charged with possession of stolen goods and possession of a firearm by a felon.

The two were taken into custody and Marshall Pope was interviewed by Clinton police Detective Russell Strickland. Prior to Thursday’s traffic stop, Strickland had received theft reports from both Pope’s grandmother Alice Pope and her brother, Pope’s great-uncle Wilbert Sneed.

There were 14 checks belonging to Sneed that were forged and cashed by Marshall Pope and another six stolen from Sneed that Pope had unknowing acquaintances cash for him, Strickland said. Meanwhile, Alice Pope’s credit card was taken and used multiple times around Clinton.

Pope has now been charged in those cases.

He received 14 felony counts of forgery and 14 felony counts of uttering for each of the checks forged from Sneed, occurring between October and December 2008. He received a single felony count of financial card fraud for the theft and use of Alice Pope’s credit card.

“He used it all over the place,” Strickland said of the card.

The detective pointed out that it is standard for just one felony charge to brought in connection with a single stolen credit card, no matter how many times it is used. Multiple counts are brought for each additional financial card stolen, he said.

During talks with police, Marshall Pope also reportedly admitted to involvement in a theft more than three years ago, also from Sneed. In the 2005 case, a .38-caliber pistol was taken from the man. Investigators were able to track down the old police report and also charged Pope with breaking and entering and larceny of a firearm in that incident.

“He said he was doing this to fund his drug habit,” remarked Strickland, who estimated approximately $5,000 stolen from Pope’s family members in the four cases.

Reports filed at the Sheriff’s Office show that Marshall Pope is also facing an additional charge of breaking and entering into a motor vehicle and Miles Pope has been charged with obtaining property be false pretenses, both in connection with the same case, in which Andy Pope was victimized.

Marshall Pope was placed under $30,000 bond for the current charges against him. Miles Pope was placed under $3,500 bond.

The investigation is ongoing.

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@intrstar.net.