MEMPHIS, TN—A former Deputy Court Clerk pled guilty Thursday to embezzling more than $24,000 from the City of Memphis during a year-long scheme.

According to the indictment, from December 1, 2013 to December 1, 2014, Tammy Brooks-Carpenter, a Deputy Court Clerk at the time, voided 248 payments made by customers to the City Court Clerk’s office for traffic fines. By doing so, she was able to steal $24,011.50 of the approximate $43,230.50 paid to the government over that period.

Brooks-Carpenter’s illegal actions placed her in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 666(a)(1)(A), which makes it a crime to embezzle money from a local government entity that receives in excess of $10,000 of federal assistance during a 12-month period.

During Brooks-Carpenter’s employment at the City Court Clerk’s Office, her duties included accepting payments from customers who were issued motor vehicle citations by the City of Memphis. Brooks-Carpenter was required to enter all transactions into the Electronic Ticket Information System (ETIMS), which recorded the payments. But instead of submitting full payments to the ETIMS System, she voided them and entered in smaller amounts. The remaining funding would then be converted for Brooks-Carpenter’s personal use.

As a result of Brooks-Carpenter not entering full payments, customers who paid their traffic tickets would receive a “Blue Letter,” essentially a written message sent out by the City of Memphis to individuals who haven’t paid a fine in the designated timeframe.

Brooks-Carpenter faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when sentenced.

U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes, Jr., who presided over the court, set sentencing for August 21, 2015 at 10 a.m. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Coleman is representing the government in this case.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Memphis Police Department, and the Tarnished Badge Task Force investigated this case.