Ex-Home Depot worker from Covington gets prison in $4M gift card scam

Ex-Home Depot worker gets 3 years for $4M card theft

A former Home Depot employee, Felicia Ingram, has been sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison for orchestrating a massive $4 million gift card fraud.

ATLANTA - A former Home Depot employee has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for stealing more than $4 million in gift cards from the company.

What we know:

Felecia Ingram, 53, of Covington, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. to three years and one month in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $3,946,776 in restitution to The Home Depot. Ingram pleaded guilty to access device fraud on May 1, 2025.

According to prosecutors, Ingram worked as a gift card sales associate beginning in 2008. Between March 2020 and July 2021, she used her facility access credentials to steal more than 8,000 physical gift cards from The Home Depot Store Support Center while fewer employees were onsite during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authorities said Ingram then used her network credentials to activate the stolen cards by creating false orders, making it appear the cards were intended for corporate events and legitimate business purposes. She later deleted those orders to conceal the scheme and sold the activated cards on the black market, using the proceeds primarily to fund gambling.

Home Depot discovered the fraud after identifying discrepancies in its gift card ledger balances. Investigators determined Ingram stole approximately 8,325 cards valued at more than $4 million.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service with assistance from The Home Depot. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen H. McClain prosecuted the case.

What they're saying:

Steve McClain, the assistant U.S. attorney with the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, said Felicia Ingram would steal gift cards from Home Depot. 

"She would take them by the handful out of the store and then she would go into the system using her credentials to create fake orders to make it look like these gift cards were being used at a business event," said McClain. 

McClain said Ingram would then activate the cards, delete them from the system, and sell them on the black market. 

"She stole over 8,000 cards as part of a scheme over the course of 16 months starting in March of 2020," he said. "The investigation showed she lost most of the money gambling. She lost millions of dollars gambling," he added. 

Home Depot found the fraud after noticing a discrepancy in their ledger. 

"We take seriously any time an insider, corrupt insider has stolen from their employer. We take it very seriously, they do it for this length of time, and this amount of money," said McClain. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for The Home Depot wrote: 

"We’re pleased to put this matter behind us so we can remain focused on doing the right thing and serving our customers."

What we don't know:

No mug shot was provided for Felecia Ingram.