A Pine Bluff woman pleaded guilty last week to a conspiracy to commit fraud charge in connection with a credit repair scheme.
Sherrye Lajoyce Mance was one of two women charged in an eight-count indictment that was filed in January 2014 accusing Mance and Tiffany Rene Morris, also known as Tiffany Vann of Southhaven, Miss., with creating names of companies that offered to repair credit in return for a fee and having the fees sent electronically to themselves.
Among the names created by the two were Credit Counseling Services, Financial Services Unlimited, Fresh Start Credit Service, Services Unlimited and USL Unlimited Service.
Seven of the eight counts of the indictment reflect the electronic transfer of money to Morris or Mance from cities in Arkansas and Tennessee.
In return for the guilty plea on the one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, federal prosecutors agreed to dismiss the remaining seven counts against Mance, and according to the plea agreement, Mance could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, fined $250,000 or both, followed by three years of supervised probation.
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In addition, the plea agreement requires restitution in the amount of $125,544 from Mance and Morris.
Following a trial in federal court last week, Morris was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five individual counts of wire fraud.
Both she and Mance will be sentenced at a later date following a pre-sentence investigation by federal probation officers.