By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore woman was arrested July 9 by Escambia County (Fla.) sheriff’s investigators and charged with violation of the Florida Communications Fraud Act.
According to an arrest report furnished by ECSO officials, 33-year-old Sherry Williams Rudolph was arrested on July 9 after an investigation into an apparent telephone scam.
No details of the investigation were released, but the Florida Criminal Code section cited on the arrest report indicates that Rudolph swindled or defrauded at least one other person by using “communications technology to solicit victims and thereby conceal (her identity) and overcome a victim’s normal resistance to sales pressure by delivering a personalized sales message.”
The report did not specify how many people fell victim to Rudolph’s telephonic sales pitch but did indicate that the amount of the swindle or attempted swindle was less than $20,000. That makes it a third-degree felony under Florida law, punishable upon conviction by up to five years in prison, a $5,000 fine and five years of probation.
Rudolph was released the same day she was arrested, after a $10,000 bond was posted on her behalf.