Several people from Monroe and Lehigh counties are charged in criminal conspiracy related to forged state automotive reports.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane's office announced suspects have been charged in connection with a conspiracy in which automotive reports were forged to make it appear that state vehicles were being used more frequently than they actually were.The defendants all worked for the state's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources at the time of the alleged criminal conspiracy.Charged are Jeffrey Weidner, 53, of 3414 Franklin St., Emerald, Jennifer Bowman, 53, 2344 Lakeside Drive, Tobyhanna, James Brink, 64, 236 Hardytown Road, Cresco, and Vance Keesler, 53, 1021 Tobyhanna Road, Gouldsboro, Wayne County. The defendants were all assigned to the Tobyhanna State Park Complex.According to criminal complaints filed Tuesday, the defendants during a five-month period in 2014 conspired to forge monthly automotive reports that were kept for the state vehicles assigned to the Tobyhanna complex.The complaint said the defendants conspired to inflate the frequency of use and fuel usage on the reports to ensure the complex's allotment of state vehicles remained intact. State vehicles may be removed from certain fleets for lack of use.The investigation revealed there were multiple days when DCNR employees were recorded as having been the driver of a vehicle on a day when the employee was on a scheduled day off. Additionally, refueling marked on multiple reports indicated that certain vehicles were being filled beyond their actual fuel capacity.The investigation also included information from an administrative assistant who previously worked at the Tobyhanna complex. She told investigators she observed several handwriting discrepancies in which gallons of fuel and vehicle mileage information had been erased or altered on reports.Bowman, a park manager, and Weidner, a maintenance supervisor, are charged with three counts each of forgery and one count each of tampering with public records, criminal conspiracy with multiple charges, tampering with records or identification and obstructing administration of law or other government function.Keesler and Brink, both maintenance repairmen, are charged with one count each of tampering with public records, criminal conspiracy with multiple charges, tampering with records or identification and obstructing administration of law or other government function.The defendants all appeared Tuesday for preliminary arraignments. They were each released on $5,000 unsecured bail. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Feb. 3.