Handwriting expert weighs in

SANDUSKY — At the start of the second day of a local podcaster's jury trial over mortgage fraud allegations, the primary victim in the case resumed his testimony on Wednesday. Ashli Ford, 41, of Milan, faces 12 felony charges, including tampering with records, forgery, aggravated theft and identity fraud in the Erie County Common Pleas Court with Judge Beverly McGookey presiding over the case. The case involves allegations that she signed a co-signer's name — that of the victim giving testimony — on federal loan documents without consent and falsely stated a familial relationship. She then allegedly used the funds secured in the loan to dismiss a home foreclosure action and modify the loan. 'I don't want anything to do with this' The victim, a man whose signature was allegedly forged by Ford on mortgage documents, returned to the witness stand in the morning after giving testimony on Tuesday afternoon. Ford's defense attorney, Peter Pattakos, began questioning the victim about his overall relationship with Ford and if he in fact signed the alleged "forged documents." The victim, again, denied signing the documents bearing his signature. Pattakos specifically focused on a call between Detective Matthew Green and the victim regarding the detective's suspicions that Ford might have allegedly forged the man's signature. The victim could be heard on the call stating to the detective, "I don't want anything to do with this." When again being questioned by Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter asserted that the victim's testimony that he had not signed the documents had not changed over the course of the trial. The victim testified that he agreed. The victim also testified that after Ford was notified of her impending charges relating to the forgery allegation, she allegedly called him and screamed at him and accused him of signing the document and failing to remember he'd done so. Notary testifies The next witness was the notary public who notarized the document that was allegedly forged by Ford. The witness, Laura Barrett-Bache, said Ford contacted her over Facebook and requested that she notarize a few documents for her. Barrett-Bache testified she notarized the documents for Ford because she considered her a "friend." Barrett-Bache testified that she did not witness the victim sign his name on the form and that she had never met him before, additionally acknowledging she did not follow proper protocol for a notary public in this instance. Barrett-Bache testified she later ceased contact with Ford due to taking issue with something she had said on her podcast. Hearing from handwriting expert The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Rebecca Barrett was called to the witness stand to give analysis on the handwriting of the allegedly forged signature. Barrett said that based on the writing samples she analyzed, she could not come to a conclusive decision on whether or not the signature did or did not belong to the victim. She did, however, note some differences between the allegedly forged signature and another sample of the victim's real signature. Barrett was followed on the witness stand by a lawyer who assisted the victim in his bankruptcy filing, the Erie County recorder and a special agent from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The latter witness, Special Agent David Frederick, testified that foreclosure actions were on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic and that the requirements for securing assistance through his agency — which is when Ford applied for the loan — was more lax compared to normal times. Testimony is set to resume Thursday morning.