Columbia, South Carolina ---- United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Tonya M. Hair, age 43, of Jackson, South Carolina, has entered a guilty plea in federal court in Columbia to Uttering Forged Securities, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 513, and Access Device Fraud, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(1). United States District Judge J. Michelle Childs of Columbia accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Hair at a later date.
Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that Hair worked as an administrative assistant in an Aiken law firm. She used various credit cards and bank accounts of the law firm to divert money to herself, starting in mid-2006 and lasting through early 2013. Investigators identified approximately $270,000 in unlawful transactions attributable to Hair.
Mr. Nettles stated the maximum penalty for both Uttering Forged Securities and Access Device Fraud is imprisonment for ten years and/or a fine of $250,000.
The case was investigated by agents of the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorney Winston David Holliday, Jr. of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case. ##
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
