Two Atlanta women have been handed 16-year federal prison sentences after being convicted of orchestrating a scheme that siphoned nearly $10 million from Amazon.com, alongside a series of other offenses that included forging a federal judge's signature.

Brittney Hudson received her sentence last week, followed by three years of supervised release upon completing her prison term. Her co-conspirator, Kaelika Wortham, had already been sentenced to the same 16-year term in 2023. Wortham had an additional year added to her sentence in March of this year after admitting to forging a federal judge's signature.

The court has also ordered both women to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution to Amazon.com, with their properties and vehicles subjected to forfeiture. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Hudson was found guilty by a jury in March of this year on a total of 30 felony counts, and she is not eligible for parole.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg stated in a release: "Hudson and her accomplice orchestrated a massive fraud against Amazon.com, stealing nearly $10 million within just a few months. While out on bond, Hudson also forged a federal judge's signature in an attempt to defraud another company, which demonstrates her complete disregard for the law. This substantial sentence... holds her accountable for her string of criminal actions."

A Case of 'Completely Unchecked Greed'

Investigators have identified Hudson as the mastermind behind the series of crimes. She operated a business delivering packages for Amazon.com and was in a romantic relationship with Wortham, who worked as an operations manager at an Amazon.com warehouse outside Atlanta.

According to official disclosures, between January and June 2022, the pair used fake invoices to enter fraudulent supplier accounts into Amazon.com's vendor system. Wortham leveraged her position to approve new suppliers and invoice payments. In the end, Hudson and Wortham submitted more than 1,000 fraudulent invoices, all of which were approved by Wortham.

Reports indicate that the stolen funds were used to purchase a home valued at $1 million and multiple luxury vehicles, including a 2019 Lamborghini Urus and a 2018 Porsche Panamera. The pair were criminally charged in September 2022.

The U.S. Secret Service, when announcing Hudson's conviction earlier this year, described the case as one that could only be characterized by "completely unchecked greed."

Escalating Crimes

The Department of Justice stated that while out on bond, the two women also attempted to defraud a franchise business. They falsely told a hookah lounge operator that the Amazon.com-related charges against them had been dropped, while sending altered financial statements accompanied by court documents bearing forged signatures, including those of former Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten and Cobb County Magistrate Judge Norman L. Barnett, who was the prosecutor in the case at the time.

The U.S. Secret Service commented on LinkedIn: "Committing such acts while a federal case is still pending is hardly a wise move."