On Monday, a Montgomery, Alabama resident, Marie Antoinette Bozeman, 40, received a 77-month sentence following her conviction for orchestrating a wire fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr. Bozeman’s scheme involved the use of fraudulent debit card numbers to pay utility bills.

According to court records, Bozeman would falsely hold herself out as an Alabama Power employee or a close associate of an employee, and offer to pay the utility bills of individuals in exchange for an amount of cash that was less than they actually owed.

Once she received the utility bill information and the money, Bozeman would pay using Alabama Power’s pay-by-telephone bill payment system.

The investigation revealed that Bozeman discovered a way to exploit the bill payment system by using random debit card information.

Records show that Bozeman attempted to fraudulently pay more than $300,000 in other persons’ utility bills. Alabama Power discovered the fraud before all of the transactions were applied and has taken measures to prevent this type of exploitation in the future.

A hearing is scheduled in January 2020 to determine the amount of restitution Bozeman will be ordered to pay.

The United States Secret Service and the Montgomery Police Department investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan S. Ross.