Owner of local travel agency pleads guilty to wire fraud

JACKSON, Tenn. — A local business owner has pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges.

Ronda Hopkins Richards, 54, owner of Ronda’s Travel Corner in Jackson, entered the plea in federal court after allegations of defrauding about 100 clients.

According to a release, the thefts happened between November 2016 and July 2017.

The release says Richards asked the clients to pay cash for trips that were never booked. In other instances, flights for trips were booked but accommodations were not, the release says.

Richards admitted to Jackson police investigators that she took the money to make payments and didn’t keep up with what she had taken, according to the release.

She faces up to 20 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.