Albany woman pleads guilty to wire fraud charge

ALBANY — An Albany woman pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to information charging her with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to a statement by the office of U.S Attorney Michael J. Moore, between March 2011 and September 2012, Lavrinda Hamilton, 40, accessed personal identity and customer account data for more than 50 different telephone customers from a computer while at her job at Teleperformance in Albany.

She then sent the account and identity data to unknown conspirators and received payment for her actions via pre-paid debit cards. The outside conspirators filed insurance claims for lost or stolen phones and received replacement phones at third-party addresses, Moore’s release stated.

Hamilton, who entered her plea before U.S. District Court Judge Leslie J. Abrams, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both. According to the statement, Hamilton will be sentenced in about 60 days following a pre-sentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

The case was investigated by the Secret Service and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Crane is prosecuting for the Government.

“As identity theft becomes more prevalent, the Secret Service will remain steadfast in aggressively investigating those responsible for using stolen identities to commit fraud,” Albany Secret Service resident agent in charge Clint Bush said in a statement. “Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to pursue those committing these crimes.”