A former Amazon contractor accused of stealing almost $10 million from the retail and tech giant in the first half of 2022 has been found guilty of 30 associated federal charges.
Prosecutors said Brittany Hudson scammed Amazon out of around $9.4 million with several Atlanta-area staff, including her then-girlfriend, Kayricka Wortham, who worked as an operations manager at Amazon’s warehouse in Smyrna.
Hudson is one of six defendants in the criminal case and the only one who did not take a plea deal. She chose to represent herself at trial in federal court in Atlanta, telling the jurors during her opening statement that she was in a “David and Goliath” battle with the United States.
On Friday, the jurors convicted Hudson on all 30 counts against her, of fraud, money laundering and forgery. They took less than two hours to reach the verdict, court records show.
Hudson’s sentencing has been scheduled for June 16. She has been in federal custody for just over three years.
She told the jurors last week that she hadn’t been able to see or hold her son for 1,137 days despite the presumption of innocence.
“What this case really is about is a conviction at all costs,” Hudson said in her opening statement. “It’s about internal corporate approvals and what the government wants you to infer from it.”
Hudson was initially granted bond after being charged in September 2022, but she and Wortham were subsequently accused in January 2023 of forgery in association with their attempt to open a hookah lounge in Midtown. Their bond was revoked.
Prosecutors said Hudson and Wortham forged the signatures of a federal prosecutor and the court’s then-chief judge, who was presiding over their case, to falsely claim the charges against them had been dropped.
By that time, Wortham had pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors. She was sentenced in July 2023 to 16 years in prison and ordered to pay $9.4 million in restitution to Amazon. More than $3 million in cash seized from 11 bank accounts was forfeited in her case, along with several luxury vehicles.
At the beginning of Hudson’s trial, federal prosecutor Angela Adams told the jurors that Hudson and Wortham were partners in crime who used Amazon as “their own personal ATM” to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Adams said the couple bought a $1 million home in Cobb County with cash, a $300,000 Lamborghini, a $100,000 Tesla, other vehicles and various designer items, among other things. She said Wortham texted Hudson about scamming Amazon out of more money so they could get an in-ground pool.
“Dozens of fake companies, hundreds of fake invoices and millions of dollars in real money from Amazon,” Adams said. “Brittany Hudson was always behind the scenes and her finger was always on the pulse.”
Adams explained how Wortham, Hudson and several others they recruited used stolen personal information to create more than 30 fake companies that Wortham approved as Amazon vendors. Adams said they submitted hundreds of fake invoices to Amazon totaling more than $10 million for services never rendered and channeled the proceeds to dozens of bank accounts.
“This scheme was calculated, it was planned and it required several steps,” Adams said. “And each step added another layer of deception.”
Hudson owned a business called Legend Express LLC that contracted with Amazon to deliver packages, her indictment says.
Just before Hudson’s trial, a representative for Amazon said the company has cooperated fully with law enforcement and won’t comment further while the case remains active.
More than a dozen witnesses testified against Hudson, including Demetrius Hines, a former Amazon employee who pleaded guilty in relation to the fraud in November 2022. Hines was a loss prevention lead for Amazon who worked in part at the company’s Smyrna warehouse. He has yet to be sentenced.
Timothy Batten Sr., the court’s former chief judge initially assigned to the case, also testified about the forgery.
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