CHARLESTON, WV—A 44-year old Fayette County woman faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty today to mail fraud, United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced. Cheryl Gray of Hilltop, West Virginia, entered a guilty plea before United States District Court Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. in Charleston.

Gray is a former employee of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department. While at the Sheriff’s Department, Gray was charged with collecting application fees for concealed weapon permits, recording fees paid, and transmitting a list to the West Virginia State Police of permits issued each month. For over six months, from October of 2012 through June of 2013, Gray kept cash payments for permits and failed to record the names of persons who paid cash on the State Police report. To disguise her theft, Gray created a false set of receipt books. The fraud resulted in losses to the State Police and Fayette County Sheriff’s Department of approximately $40,000.

Gray is scheduled to be sentenced on September 23, 2014 in Charleston.

The West Virginia State Police, Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Blaire L. Malkin is in charge of the prosecution.