Woman sentenced in office supply scheme

BILLINGS (AP) — A Billings woman who pleaded guilty to running a kickback scheme to get military employees to order office supplies from her businesses at inflated prices has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison.

The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/WyIl1l ) 32-year-old Ashley Ann Lamere was sentenced on Jan. 28 by U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull for wire fraud and bribery.

Prosecutors said Lamere used the promise of bribes and gifts to get military employees to order office supplies between 2008 and 2010 and then made higher-than-authorized charges on the cards or sent less than or none of the supplies ordered.

Lamere's sentence includes a nearly $245,000 forfeiture and nearly $34,000 in restitution to Wal-Mart for a separate check cashing scheme in Wyoming that occurred after Lamere was indicted in the office supply case.