New Jersey- A former porn queen accused of using her acting skills to impersonate real customers and cash thousands of dollars in checks from local banks has pleaded guilty to theft charges.
Joy Marquart, a once popular adult-movie figure known in the 1990s as “Farrah,” admitted in state Superior Court in Hackensack last week that she used fake identification cards and bad checks to obtain more than $40,000 from banks in Emerson, Fair Lawn, Hackensack, Oradell and Ridgewood.
Marquart, 30, whose business suits and high heels fooled bank employees, was arrested in May when a teller in an Emerson bank noticed that her driver’s license was fake, authorities said.
Marquart pleaded guilty to third-degree theft by deception, uttering a forged document and possession of a stolen credit card. She also agreed to pay $48,800 in restitution.
Marquart faces up to three years in state prison as part of her plea agreement.
If she pays $10,000 or more of the restitution money before her sentencing on Feb. 3, however, prosecutors will recommend a maximum of one year in jail with up to five years’ probation, said Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Fred Schwanwede.
“I think it was a fair outcome, considering she has no prior convictions and has agreed to repay the money,” Schwanwede said.
Marquart’s attorney, Vincent Basile, said his client is getting support from family and friends to come up with the restitution money.
Marquart now works at temporary jobs at different offices and is looking for “legitimate jobs, trying to stay away from people in her former profession,” Basile said.
“She took full responsibility and she feels bad,” he said. “She’s not a criminal. She did something wrong and she is trying to make it whole and make it right.”
Marquart, who now lives in the Bronx, remains free on $30,000 bail.
