Forgery, or the common law crime of the falsification of a document, signature, or banknote, is covered under a number of statutes in Massachusetts law. Section 5: Uttering false or forged records, deeds or other writings.To have a forgery, something relating to a legal document itself, as distinguished from its contents, must be false. Uttering is a crime that involves the act of passing or using a forged document, like uttering a forged check. If convicted of forgery, it carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison or 2 years in jail.