Supermodel in trouble with the law

[JackPMiller]

http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_364145533.html

Supermodel Charged In Credit Card Scam

(CBS) SANTA CLARITA, Calif. Supermodel Beverly Peele is out on $20,000 bail Friday morning following her arrest by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Santa Clarita Station.

The L.A .County Sheriff's Department says the 30-year-old Saugus woman was arrested Monday night, booked on suspicion of "use of expired or forged access cards," Matsumoto said. She was then released Thursday night on $20,000 bail, facing two counts of felony grand theft.

She is scheduled to appear on Jan. 5 in Newhall Superior Court in Valencia, Matsumoto said.

Peele allegedly found a wallet in a shopping cart and returned it to its owner, who later received billings on her credit card statement for items she did not purchase, according to sheriff's Detective John Howard.

Another victim also received similar billings after he used his credit card at John Robert Powers modeling agency, where Peele works.

Although the items ordered with the credit cards were placed in the victims' names, they were delivered to Peele's home address, giving investigators a clear paper trail to follow.

At Peele's home, investigators confiscated Sears and Maytag appliances and furniture that was purchased with the credit cards.

At 6’ tall, Peele has been modeling since she was 11 years old and has been featured on the cover of more than 250 magazines, according to the John Robert Powers Web site. She attended Hawthorne High School in South LA, and she has also done some entertainment work appearing in the 2002 film "Sweet Friggin' Daisies" and an episode of the old TV sitcom "Sister, Sister" in September 1997. Neighbors said Peele is a nice woman and a good mother, and they're stunned over her arrest.


(© 2005 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)