Casper Woman Pleads Guilty To Credit Card Fraud
A former company bookkeeper/office manager pleaded guilty on Thursday to a count of illegally using a Casper company's credit card to make more than $21,000 of unauthorized purchases.
Denise Lynn Johnson entered the plea during the hearing before Natrona County District Court Judge Catherine Wilking.
The Natrona County District Attorney's Office originally charged her with 10 felony counts and two misdemeanor counts of credit card fraud. The felony is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine.
Restitution will be an issue, but Johnson, represented by attorney Don Fuller, said she didn't know how much that may be.
Wilking accepted the plea and ordered a presentence investigation, and will set a sentencing date later.
The case started in October 2021, when a Natrona County Sheriff's deputy responded to a report from an officer with Intermountain Pipe and Thread who found a recently terminated employee -- Johnson -- may have committed credit card fraud, according to the affidavit accompanying the charging documents.
The company officer showed the deputy that Johnson used a company credit card to pay for out-of-state hotels; a car wash; a class for her son to learn coding; peppermint beadlets; a vaping store; an essential oil; a convenience store in Nebraska; a Dairy Queen in South Dakota; and subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu and YouTube Premium.
The total amounted $21,150.92, according to the affidavit.
Johnson began her employment in March 2019 and received her company credit card in September 2019 after her probationary period ended.
The company terminated Johnson in the fall of 2021 after a review of other employment issues regarding her. That's when the company official began investigating the unauthorized credit card use.