NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

OCTOBER 26, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STURGEON WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO IDENTITY THEFT,

CREDIT CARD FRAUD OF FORMER EMPLOYER

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Sturgeon, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to an identity theft and credit card fraud scheme in which she targeted her former employer.

Jennifer Lynette Furlong, 39, of Sturgeon, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge William A. Knox this morning to three counts of credit card fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.

Furlong admitted that she stole identity information from her former employer at Forever Green Nursery in Columbia, Mo. Furlong worked as an office manager at Forever Green Nursery between March 2007 and March 2008. Furlong used the victim’s identity information to open credit card accounts and purchase thousands of dollars worth of goods and services.

Under federal statutes, Furlong is subject to a sentence of up to 30 years in federal prison without parole on the credit card fraud counts of the indictment, plus a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in federal prison without parole on the aggravated identity theft counts, as well as a fine and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

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