Anchorage, Alaska – United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that on January 22, 2010, Heidi N. Adams, a resident of Anchor Point, Alaska, was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage to three months in prison for her conviction on 16 counts of computer fraud. Adams pled guilty in September 2009.

Chief United States District Court Judge Ralph R. Beistline imposed the sentence on Adams, age
26. She was also ordered to make over $85,000 in restitution to the victim, serve three years of supervised release, and pay a $1600 special assessment. The court made it clear that if Adams does not make restitution, she will receive additional prison time.

According to information presented to the court by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Bradley, beginning in April 2002, Adams was employed as an inventory/returns clerk by Ulmer’s Drug and Hardware in Homer, Alaska. Her duties included receiving items returned by customers and paying refunds to the customers.

From February through October 2006, on 16 different occasions, Adams made false entries into the computer at Ulmer’s, fraudulently indicating that an item had been returned, when in fact no item had been returned. To do this, she used employee identification codes assigned either to herself or to other employees to indicate which employee had taken the phony return. She then took cash from a register in the refund amount. The court found that she had stolen at least $85,000 during the course of the scheme. Ulmer’s is a member of the True Value Company. The victim, Scott Ulmer, addressed the court regarding the impact the theft had on his family and business.

Ms. Loeffler commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Homer Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Adams.

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