2 Sentenced In Scheme That Defrauded $10M From Amazon: Prosecutors

ATLANTA, GA — An Atlanta woman has been sentenced to prison after being accused of defrauding and pocketing $10 million from Amazon, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg's office announced the sentencing against Brittany Hudson, 40. The allegations against her range from January to June 2022.

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Hudson owned a business that operated as a contractor for package delivering for Amazon, prosecutors said.

At the time, she was in a romantic relationship with Kayricka Wortham, who prosecutors said was an operations manager for Amazon's Smyrna warehouse. In her role, Wortham had the authority to approve new vendors and vendor invoice payments for Amazon, prosecutors said.

Both Hudson and Wortham were accused of submitting at least 1,000 false invoices for fake vendors, claiming the vendors provided goods and services to Amazon, prosecutors said.

Dozens of fake vendors were established in Amazon's vendor system, prosecutors said. Wortham approved the invoices, leading Amazon to transfer about $9.4 million to bank accounts that Wortham, Hudson and co-conspirators owned, prosecutors said.

The funding Hudson and Wortham received was used to buy a nearly $1 million home in Smyrna, a 2019 Lamborghini Urus, a 2021 Dodge Durango, a 2022 Tesla Model X, a 2018 Porsche Panamera and a Kawasaki ZX636 motorcycle, prosecutors said.

The pair was arrested and charged in federal court in September 2022; but, prosecutors said while they were out on bond, they defrauded a franchising company.

They claimed the charges against relating to the Amazon scheme were dismissed as they attempted to enter a franchising agreement to open a Midtown hookah lounge, prosecutors said.

To back their claim, prosecutors said they forged the signatures of a then-prosecutor on the case and a former federal judge on two emailed counterfeit court documents.

Hudson was additionally accused of doctoring financial statements with "inflated account balances to support the franchise deal."

This led to their pretrial release being revoked, prosecutors said.

A jury on March 13 convicted Hudson of two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 17 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, nine counts of money laundering and one count of forgery of the signature of a federal judge.

She was sentenced to 16 years and three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 of restitution to Amazon.

She also had to forfeit her Smyrna home, and money was seized from her bank account. The court also ordered a forfeiture money judgment of $7,859,135.54 .

Wortham, 35, Atlanta, was sentenced to 16 years to be followed by three years of supervised release on June 27, 2023. She was ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution, forfeit more than $3 million, the Smyrna home and vehicles.

She later pled guilty to forging the signature of a federal judge on March 25, leading to an additional consecutive year in prison.

"The sentencing in this case brings a brazen fraud operation to its inevitable conclusion - years behind bars for the criminals involved," said Rob Donovan, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service Atlanta Field Office. "Our office remains steadfast in our commitment to uncover fraud, protect victims and work with our partners at the U.S. Attorney's Office to bring criminals like this to justice."