LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A San Antonio woman who allegedly attempted to defraud the City of Lexington out of millions of dollars will spend up to 80 months in federal prison for the crime.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 25-year-old Shimea McDonald pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft. McDonald received the sentence Thursday in Lexington federal court.
Prior to the sentencing, McDonald was indicted with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one count of providing fraudulent statements to a federally insured financial institution, and three counts of identity theft, according to the United States Attorney's Office.
Authorities say McDonald "conspired with others to engage in business email compromise scams." They allege the group impersonated vendors in emails and requested wire payments to a new bank account.
According to the indictment, in August 2022, the conspirators impersonated a nonprofit that had business with the City of Lexington over email and convinced an employee to wire funds owed to the nonprofit to a bank account at Truist Bank. The City then wired a total of $3,905,837.05. Truist Bank and the City of Lexington recovered all the stolen funds about a week later.
McDonald will report to prison by March 6.
