NEW ORLEANS — A former Amtrak employee has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in connection with actions when she was working as an on-board service attendant.
Kenya Butler-Small will be sentenced on June 15, 2022 for the charges, which carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced in a Department of Justice press release.
Butler-Small was charged in December for selling space on a non-existent New Orleans-New York train trip, as well as for submitting false sick benefit claims [see “Former Amtrak worker faces wire fraud charges,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 27, 2021].
She reportedly collected up to $26,000 from more than 40 victims for what she said would be a charter trip including New York activities such as shows and museum visits, then said Amtrak cancelled the trip because one of the passengers assaulted an employee and made a bomb threat. She had never booked the trip and no such incident occurred. She also submitted more than $4,600 in sick claims on days when she said she was too ill to work, but actually was working at another job.
hope she is stripped of government pension and benefits. unions may not allow this to happen. she goes out on a golden parachute. maybe a state owned railroad will hire her and she can do more dirty work
She was sick alright, sick in her head thinking she could get away with this. I have little sympathy for her.
Very difficult to have much sympathy for people who ponied up money to her. I’d be asking for more info and an Amtrak web link. I’m sure it was a fantastic deal being offered.