Federal prosecutors said fake vendors and more than 1,000 fictitious invoices diverted millions of dollars that funded real estate and luxury vehicles.
ATLANTA, GA — Two Georgia women have been sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms for their roles in a fraud scheme that caused Amazon to pay about $9.4 million through fake vendors and fictitious invoices, according to federal prosecutors.
Brittany Hudson, 40, was sentenced Aug. 26 to 16 years and three months in federal prison after a jury convicted her in March of 30 felony offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said. Her partner, former Amazon operations manager Kayricka Wortham, 35, had previously received a 16-year sentence for the Amazon scheme and later received an additional consecutive year after pleading guilty to forging the signature of a federal judge.
Prosecutors said Hudson owned a business that contracted with Amazon to deliver packages, while Wortham worked as an operations manager at an Amazon warehouse in Smyrna, Georgia. Wortham’s position gave her authority to approve new vendors and payments on vendor invoices. Investigators said the women used that access to create dozens of fake vendors and submit more than 1,000 invoices for goods and services that were never provided.
The scheme involving Hudson and Wortham ran from January through June 2022, prosecutors said. Wortham and another co-conspirator at Amazon approved fake vendor profiles, allowing invoices to be submitted through Amazon’s system. Wortham then approved the fictitious invoices, causing the company to transfer approximately $9.4 million into bank accounts controlled by Hudson, Wortham and other participants.
Federal prosecutors said some of the proceeds were spent on expensive property and vehicles. Purchases included a home in Smyrna valued at nearly $1 million, a 2019 Lamborghini Urus, a 2021 Dodge Durango, a 2022 Tesla Model X, a 2018 Porsche Panamera and a Kawasaki ZX636 motorcycle. Authorities later moved to seize property and money linked to the scheme.
Hudson and Wortham were charged in federal court in 2022. Prosecutors said they engaged in additional criminal conduct while free on bond in January 2023 as they sought a franchise agreement to open a hookah lounge in Midtown Atlanta. When the franchising company discovered the pending Amazon fraud case, the women falsely claimed the charges had been dismissed, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
To support that claim, prosecutors said Hudson and Wortham emailed counterfeit court documents containing forged signatures, including that of former Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. Hudson also sent doctored financial documents that inflated account balances as part of the proposed franchise transaction. Their pretrial release was revoked after the conduct was uncovered.
Wortham had pleaded guilty in November 2022 to charges stemming from the Amazon fraud. She was initially sentenced in 2023 to 16 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution to Amazon. Authorities also obtained forfeiture of millions of dollars in proceeds, the Smyrna residence and vehicles purchased with money from the fraud. In March 2026, Wortham received another year in prison after pleading guilty to forging a federal judge’s signature, bringing her total prison term to 17 years.
Hudson took her case to trial. On March 13, 2026, a federal jury convicted her of two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 17 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, nine counts of money laundering and one count involving forgery of a federal judge’s signature. The jury also found that money seized from her bank account and her Smyrna residence could be forfeited as proceeds of the Amazon fraud.
Hudson was ordered to pay $9,469,731.45 in restitution to Amazon and received three years of supervised release to follow her prison term. The court also entered a forfeiture money judgment of $7,859,135.54 and ordered the forfeiture of her Smyrna residence and money seized from her bank account. The U.S. Secret Service investigated the case, which federal prosecutors said concludes the proceedings against Hudson with her sentencing.
Author note: Last updated September 1, 2026.