AUBURN – Seven people charged with felonies in connection with forged checks drawn on bank accounts at the Sheriff’s Department and county court pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Three others, including the alleged forgery ringleader, were arraigned last month.

A judge at Androscoggin County Superior Court set bail for each of the defendants:

• Laura M. Ayer, 23, of Auburn, $500 unsecured;

• Renee Belisle, 26, of Auburn, $1,000 cash;

• Corey S. Harding, 21, of Rumford, personal recognizance;

• Jospeh A. Langley, 23, of Lewiston, $250 cash;

• Lucas Salas, 31, of Lewiston, $500 cash;

• Tyrell Teague, 33, of Lewiston, $500 unsecured; and

• Tomeca Marie Weaver, 22, of Lewiston, $500 cash.

All but Belisle were indicted on Class C forgery charges, punishable by up to five years in prison. Belisle was indicted on a count of Class B forgery and, if convicted, faces up to 10 years in prison.

Kevin Petersen, 47, of Lewiston was arraigned last month. He pleaded not guilty and remains in jail pending release on personal recognizance in the custody of a monitoring agency.

All defendants were released on the condition they have no contact with each other.

The alleged ringleader, James K. Carver, 25, of Auburn pleaded not guilty to a count of Class A forgery on July 11. That charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

Ashley Banville, 22, also of Auburn, pleaded not guilty last month to a charge of Class C forgery. She was back in court Thursday, where a judge said she could be released from Androscoggin County Jail if she were to arrange release through a contracting agency that would monitor her whereabouts.

Police said Carver printed fake checks using account numbers from the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department canteen fund and from accounts at Maine District Court and Androscoggin County Superior Court. That account contains money collected from defendants who are out on bail.

The canteen fund is money deposited by jail inmates when they are booked. What’s left when they leave jail is given to them by check.

Carver concocted a scheme to have other people cash his bogus checks at TD Banknorth and Bank of America, the banks where the accounts are. The people who cashed the checks would split the cash with him, police said in court papers.

At one time, he and Banville, his girlfriend, had more than $10,000 in cash, which they used to support their cocaine habit, Banville reportedly told police.

The ring was discovered by Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Department when a bank manager called police to report someone trying to cash one of the forged checks.

An officer noticed the color of the fake check didn’t match the color of real ones. The forgers also had misspelled “sheriff” as “shiriff” and “Turner Street” as “Turnner st.”

The number on the bogus check didn’t match up with real checks recently written on that account.