AUGUSTA — A Chelsea woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to several counts of theft and forgery in connection with cases in which she befriended multiple people, including at least one homeless veteran, and then stole and cashed checks from them.

Tracy C. Dorweiler, 55, pleaded guilty to a total of 14 charges at the Capital Judicial Center, for crimes that occurred in 2019 and 2020, most of which involved her stealing or attempting to steal money via checks from the residents of two area veterans’ facilities. The thefts also impacted an Augusta man and Augusta-based company, Guerrette Properties.

One of the victims was living at a shelter for homeless women veterans, who alerted authorities in September 2019 after noticing she was missing checks. Augusta police investigated and determined Dorweiler had apparently written two checks from the woman payable to herself, for $160 and $180, and had also used the woman’s debit card multiple times to add minutes to her cellphone.

Dorweiler, according to prosecutor Tyler LeClair, an assistant district attorney, admitted to police she cashed the checks but claimed she did so to help the victim out by getting her cash. The victim denied that and said she had not given any checks to Dorweiler.

In March 2020 a man staying at a cabin on the grounds of Veterans Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center at Togus reported that Dorweiler, his neighbor there, asked him to cash a check for her. She wrote him a check for $384, and he gave her that in cash. But when he went to cash her check he was denied because her account had insufficient funds to cover the check. That same day, LeClair said, Dorweiler attempted to cash a check made out to her, from the man’s account.

She later admitted stealing the check and attempting to cash it.

On social media pages Dorweiler indicates she is a retired Army medic.

In May 2019 an Augusta man reported a similar incident, in which Dorweiler gave him a check for $480, which he cashed and gave her the cash from, but the check then bounced. LeClair said the man tried to contact Dorweiler but she didn’t respond. LeClair said Dorweiler first told law enforcement she thought she had the money in her account to cover the check but later admitted she knew she did not.

Also in 2020, an employee and owner of Augusta-based Guerrette Properties reported a worker had put a check for $331 made out to the state for payroll taxes in a mailbox in a foyer outside of the business, to be mailed out. LeClair said Dorweiler stole the check and returned to the business after having apparently used a black marker to write her name on the check instead of “State of Maine,” and asked a Guerrette Properties employee for a new check for that amount, saying the money was payment for a catering job.

A worker told Dorweiler to bring the check to the company’s owner, which she did, and the owner seized the check from her. LeClair said Dorweiler told police she had been hard up for money and admitted she had stolen checks.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled to take place in May.

Dorweiler’s attorney, Donald Hornblower, said at that sentencing he would present information on how Dorweiler has taken steps to address her behavior. However, he said she also had a similar case against her in northern Maine, which has not yet been resolved.

“There are some complexities to this,” Hornblower said Tuesday, via Zoom video. “She’s done a lot of things to better her life and get treatment. So we’re going to present all that in court.”

The maximum sentence on the most serious Class C felony-level charges against Dorweiler is up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Leclair said the state’s most recent offer, in an attempt to resolve the case through a plea bargain, was for a sentence of three years in prison. But he said now her sentence would be up to the judge, after hearing both sides argue for what her sentence should be.

Court documents indicate she has previous, similar theft and forgery charges on her criminal record.