Cape Girardeau County woman sentenced to prison for stealing from family

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been changed to correct that Perkins is from Cape Girardeau County, not Cape Girardeau. Other information has also been corrected.

A 40-year-old Cape Girardeau County woman charged with mail, wire and bank fraud was sentenced in federal court Monday before U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw.

Belinda Jo Perkins, charged with four felony counts of fraud, two counts of mail and wire fraud and one count of bank fraud was sentenced to 24 months for each count and will serve the terms concurrently.

The investigation was opened after Perkins' brother reported someone had opened an American Express credit card in his name. Perkins opened a total of ten credit cards, one line of credit and a bank loan using the identities of several family members, including her mother-in-law.

Between February 2005 and August 2007, she used the fraudulently obtained cards, making purchases totaling more than $100,000.

In addition to serving time in federal prison, Perkins was ordered to pay more than $147,000 in restitution to the victims.

Upon her release, she'll serve five years of supervised probation.