A Port Royal man who was charged in July with conspiring to defraud a Beaufort bank was arrested Friday after police say he cashed fake checks in Bluffton and Hardeeville, too.
Louis Esposito, 63, of Port Royal was charged Friday with one count of forgery and one count of defrauding a bank, according to Beaufort County Detention Center records.
Esposito fraudulently cashed two checks for $356 from the account of a Hardeeville dentist’s office, one at a South State Bank in Hardeeville and one at a Bank of America in Bluffton, according to a report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Esposito was charged on July 23, along with two other S.C. men, for conspiring to cash fraudulent checks at a South State Bank in Beaufort. They took money from the account of a Sea Pines timeshare, according to arrest warrants.
He was released on personal recognizance on Saturday, according to jail records.
Defrauding a bank is a felony, according to S.C. law. A conviction carries up to five years in prison.
When we publish mugshots
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances:
In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested
In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety
In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims
Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that don’t meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot.
Jake Shore is a senior writer covering breaking news for The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. He reports on criminal justice, police, and the courts system in Beaufort and Jasper Counties. Jake originally comes from sunny California and attended school at Fordham University in New York City. In 2020, Jake won a first place award for beat reporting on the police from the South Carolina Press Association.
