Overview
- Hudson was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 years and three months in federal prison, ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution, and hit with multi-million-dollar forfeiture that includes her Smyrna home and luxury vehicles.
- From January to June 2022 the pair created fake vendor profiles and submitted more than 1,000 fictitious invoices that caused roughly $9.4 million in Amazon payments to flow into accounts they controlled.
- Kayricka Wortham, an Amazon operations manager and Hudson’s partner, approved the fraudulent invoices and was previously convicted and sentenced to a lengthy federal term; prosecutors say an additional warehouse co-conspirator has not been publicly identified.
- While released on bond in early 2023 Hudson and Wortham tried to win a franchise deal by sending counterfeit court documents with forged judges’ signatures and fake bank statements, actions that led to revocation of pretrial release and further charges.
- Beyond the criminal sentences and asset forfeitures, the case highlights weaknesses in vendor-creation and invoice-approval controls and leaves unresolved whether Amazon will recover the full amount stolen.