Two Atlanta women are facing 16 years in federal prison after being convicted of running a scheme that stole almost $10 million from Amazon — along with a host of other crimes, including forging a judge’s signature.
Brittany Hudson was sentenced to 16 years in prison last week, followed by three years of supervised release. Her accomplice, Kayricka Wortham, received a similar sentence of 16 years in 2023. Another year was added to Wortham’s sentence in March of this year after she pleaded guilty to forging a federal judge’s signature. Both have also been ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution to Amazon and saw their home and vehicles forfeited.
“Hudson and her partner engineered a massive fraud scheme against Amazon, stealing nearly $10 million in just a few months,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg in a statement.
“Hudson then showed utter contempt for the law by forging a federal judge’s signature in a failed effort to defraud another company while out on bond. Today’s significant sentence … holds her accountable for her crime spree.”
‘Greed gone wild’
Authorities paint Hudson as the ringleader in the crime spree. She owned a business that delivered packages for Amazon and was in a romantic relationship with Wortham, who was an operations manager at an Amazon warehouse outside of Atlanta.
From January through June of 2022, say officials, the two used phony invoices and put fake vendors into the company’s vendor system. Wortham, through her position, had the authority to approve new vendors and invoice payments. Ultimately, Hudson and Wortham submitted more than 1,000 fictitious invoices, which Wortham approved.
The stolen money was reportedly spent on a $1 million house and several high-end cars, including a 2019 Lamborghini Urus and a 2018 Porsche Panamera. The pair were charged in September 2022.
The U.S. Secret Service, in announcing Hudson’s conviction earlier this year, said it was a case “that can only be described as greed gone wild.”
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Bad to worse
While out on bond payments, the Justice Department says, the duo attempted to defraud a franchising company, allegedly telling the operator of a hookah lounge that their Amazon-related charges had been dismissed, emailing inaccurate financial statements and counterfeit court documents with the forged signatures of former Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. and Cobb County Magistrate Judge Norman L. Barnett, who was then one of the prosecutors on the case.
“Not exactly the smartest move when you have a federal case still pending,” wrote the Atlanta Field Office of the Secret Service.
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
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