Brittany Hudson, an Atlanta woman who helped steal nearly $10 million from Amazon through fake invoices and bogus vendors, was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison, and then forged a federal judge's signature while out on bond.
A federal court in the Northern District of Georgia handed Hudson 16 years and three months behind bars on Wednesday, capping a fraud operation that drained approximately $9.4 million from Amazon in just six months. The sentence carries no possibility of parole. Hudson was also ordered to pay $9,469,731 in restitution to Amazon and to forfeit her nearly $1 million home in Smyrna, Georgia, along with money seized from her bank accounts, Fox Business reported.
Hudson and her partner, Kayricka Wortham, ran the scheme from January through June 2022. They exploited Wortham's business relationship with Amazon by setting up bogus vendor profiles in the company's internal system. An unnamed co-conspirator inside Amazon approved the fake profiles and the invoices that followed, more than 1,000 of them, according to the Department of Justice. Amazon transferred the funds to accounts the conspirators controlled.
The pair spent the money on real estate and luxury vehicles. The Smyrna home alone cost nearly $1 million.
Federal prosecutors brought fraud charges against Hudson and Wortham in September 2022. Most defendants facing years in prison would stop committing crimes. Hudson and Wortham did not.
While out on bond awaiting trial, the two entered into an agreement with a franchising company to open a hookah lounge in Midtown Atlanta. To close the deal, they falsely claimed their federal charges had been dismissed. They emailed the company counterfeit court documents bearing the forged signatures of former Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. and Cobb County Magistrate Judge Norman L. Barnett. Hudson also sent fake financial statements with inflated account balances.
The court revoked pretrial release for both women.
That brazenness drew sharp words from prosecutors. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a DOJ announcement:
"Hudson and her partner engineered a massive fraud scheme against Amazon, stealing nearly $10 million in just a few months. 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, which must be served without the possibility of parole, holds her accountable for her crime spree."
Wortham was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison back in June 2023. In March 2026, she received an additional year after pleading guilty to forging the federal judge's signature. She was ordered to pay the same $9,469,731 in restitution to Amazon and forfeited over $3 million, the Smyrna home, and vehicles, the New York Post reported.
Hudson's own conviction came in March, when a jury found her guilty on 30 felony counts. The charges included wire fraud, money laundering, related conspiracy offenses, and a count tied to the forged judicial signature. The court entered a forfeiture money judgment of $7,859,136 against her on top of the restitution order.
Rob Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service's Atlanta Field Office, framed the outcome as a warning:
"The sentencing in this case brings a brazen fraud operation to its inevitable conclusion, years behind bars for the criminals involved. 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."
The Secret Service investigated the case alongside federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Georgia. The identity of the Amazon insider who approved the fake vendor profiles and invoices has not been publicly disclosed, and the DOJ announcement did not detail what consequences that individual faced.
The timeline tells the story plainly. In half a year, Hudson and Wortham filed over 1,000 fake invoices and extracted $9.4 million from one of the largest companies on earth. They bought a house. They bought luxury cars. When federal agents caught them and a court released them on bond, they immediately tried to defraud someone else, and forged a judge's signature to do it.
Hudson now faces more than 16 years in a federal prison with no parole. Wortham faces 17. Between them, they owe Amazon nearly $19 million in restitution. The home, the cars, and the bank accounts are gone.
Accountability arrived late, but it arrived heavy. When the system actually enforces consequences, fraud stops paying off, a principle worth remembering every time someone argues that white-collar crime is victimless.
