“Financial Predator” given 43 years for fraud convictions

DALTON, Georgia (WDEF) – Judge Cindy Morris has given a lengthy sentence to a woman convicted on a variety of fraud, forgery and card theft charges.

Cara Ann Williams has a long history of fraud convictions in the Atlanta area.

She was from New York before coming to Georgia and then moved on to Chattanooga and Dalton.

The victim in this case was a friend of hers from North Carolina.

But Williams her identity for ten years.

Investigators found she had used fake documents to work at two businesses in Dalton and also found her with several stolen credit cards.

She was convicted of 16 counts of aggravated identity fraud, forgery, financial transaction card theft and false statements.

Prosecutors used 140 exhibits and ten witnesses to lay off her fraud schemes.

They paid off with jurors taking only 12 minutes to return the guilty verdicts.

Judge Morris labeled Williams as a financial predator and said she would sentence her like any other kind of predator.

Williams will serve 43 years without parole.

And she is still faces other charges in the Macon area.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Mark Higgins said the Justice system doesn’t usually get this serious about this kind of financial crime.

“Over the years I have been a prosecutor, I have found that fraud related crimes are not something that get most prosecutors excited to come to work, myself included.

They are time consuming cases, many times under-investigated, and often lacking in cooperation from the very financial institutions that should be the most cooperative.

Generally, the few defendants deserving of and receiving prison time are paroled out before the ink is dry on their sentences.

Fortunately, Detectives Chris Tucker and Aaron Simpson of the Dalton Police Department recognized this was a case deserving of more attention and put forth an outstanding effort in preparing this case.

As a result, Ms. Williams, a habitual offender, will be significantly limited for the next several years in her ability to victimize others.”