Ex-Home Depot employee sentenced to prison for stealing over $4 million in gift card scheme, officials say
A former Home Depot associate has been sentenced to over three years in prison after officials say she stole over $4 million in gift cards from the company.
Prosecutors say 53-year-old Felecia Ingram stole more than 8,000 physical gift cards from The Home Depot Store Support Center during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to investigators, Ingram started working for the Atlanta-based company as a gift card associate in 2008. When the pandemic began in 2020, officials say she used the fact that fewer people were working onsite to steal the cards over the course of more than a year.
Ingram reportedly used her access to the company's network to activate the cards by creating false orders that made them appear like they were sent to corporate events. She then sold the cards on the black market, using the money to fund what prosecutors called an "extravagant gambling lifestyle."
The fraud was discovered after Home Depot's gift card team noticed a discrepancy in their ledger. Officials say the company discovered that Ingram had stolen around 8,325 gift cards with a total value of more than $4 million over the course of a year and a half.
Ingram pleaded guilty to access device fraud in 2025. This week, a federal judge sentenced her to three years and one month in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
The ex-Home Depot employee was also ordered to pay over $3.9 million to the company in restitution.
"While employed at The Home Depot, the defendant abused the trust placed in her and stole a staggering $4 million from the company," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. "She engaged in a calculated scheme that involved entering false gift card orders, which she later deleted to cover her tracks. She has now been sentenced to federal prison to pay for her deceit."
