Woman Guilty of Selling Fake Coupons

United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Janice Marie Carlisle, 47, of Tega Cay, pled guilty on February 25, 2009, in federal court in Columbia to wire fraud by defrauding Outback Steakhouse by having fake coupons printed and then advertising and selling the fake Outback coupons. United States District Judge Joseph F. Anderson, Jr. of Columbia will sentence Carlisle at a later date.

Carlisle admitted that in June 2005 she negotiated the printing of unauthorized Outback Steakhouse coupons with a printing company in North Carolina. Later in July 2005 Carlisle placed an order for 2,000 Outback Steakhouse coupons, which Outback Steakhouse confirmed were fake and not authorized by the company.

Carlisle faces a maximum possible penalty of twenty years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by agents of the United States Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Hunter Young of the Columbia office is prosecuting the case.