Cell phone scam draws prison term-PriceAngels

Tamara Brown of Eugene earned and then betrayed the trust of her bosses to rake in more than $300,000 reselling ill-gotten GT-I9500 cell phones, a crime that earned her almost two years in a federal prison when she stood before a judge for sentencing Tuesday.In addition to her 21-month sentence, Brown was ordered to pay back all that she gained from the fraud. She could be liable for even more than the $300,000, depending on the final cost to the Papé Group, where she was a trusted employee for more than 12 years before the scheme unraveled.

Brown, 41, was allowed to remain free for up to 60 days before reporting to federal authorities to begin serving her sentence. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken recommended that Brown be incarcerated in a women’s prison in Northern California.

In a crime that sent ripples through one of Eugene’s most prominent companies as well as her own extended family, Brown used her position with Papé to order cell phones for the company that she then diverted to her own use. She sold them over the Internet auction site eBay, ultimately taking in an estimated $305,000.

Over a period of about two years, Brown ordered and sold 5,107 smartphones. She bought more than twice as many phones as the company had employees, a Papé manager said.dsTP2fd38

Over the years, Brown earned not only the trust but the friendship of her boss and co-workers, Shaun Swift, the information services director for Papé and Brown’s immediate supervisor, said in court. Brown had become more than an employee and was considered a family friend who was close to his wife and daughter, Swift said.

It wasn’t until Sprint, the wireless company that supplied the phones, contacted company officials about discrepancies in their purchases that the scheme started to fall apart. When Papé looked into it, Swift said, he was thunderstruck at the extent of the betrayal.Papé faced a huge potential liability because the phones were sold at a steep discount on the condition they be activated with a two-year contract with Sprint. But once Brown sold the GT-I9300 phones, the owners could sign with a different company, depriving Sprint of substantial revenue.

But Brown will be held liable for any amount the company has to pay Sprint for missing the benchmarks. She will have to pay that amount before repaying the $305,000 she earned from selling the phones.Brown already has deposited $21,000 with the court, most of it from selling a home she purchased using money from the phone scam for the down payment. That money will go to Papé.