A woman arraigned in federal court in Rome today is accused of stealing more than $1 million from her employer and using it to pay personal credit card bills.

According to court information:

In March 2003, Carolyn Lynn Cherry of Chatsworth began working for a Dalton insurance broker identified in the documents as “R.I.” Between May 2003 and August 2009, she allegedly forged her supervisor’s signature on company checks and used them to pay her personal credit card bills, which totaled more than $1 million.

“The indictment charges that the defendant caused a serious financial harm to a small business,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

Cherry allegedly used forged checks to pay Citibank approximately $510,996; Chase/Washington Mutual, $416,406; and Capital One, $74,039. She allegedly used her credit cards to pay for several trips to Disney World and Disney resorts, as well as trips to New York, Washington, D.C., and numerous beach and river destinations between Myrtle Beach and Honolulu. In addition, she allegedly used her credit cards to buy hundreds of items from television shopping networks.

She also allegedly wrote three company checks payable to herself, for a total of approximately $11,300, and cashed them.

“This case demonstrates both the wide-reaching effects of embezzlement, its impact on innocent victims, and the importance of cooperation among our local area businesses and law enforcement partners,” said Jeffrey T. Gilbert of the Secret Service Atlanta Field Office.

Cherry was charged with 24 counts of mail fraud in connection with her use of the U.S. Postal Service to pay her credit card bills, and three counts of bank fraud, in connection with her cashing of forged company checks.

The mail fraud charges are punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 per count. The bank fraud charges are punishable by a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million per count.

More charges for former Cartersville mayoral candidate

A former Cartersville mayoral candidate accused of defrauding lenders to purchase luxury vehicles and an airplane now faces additional charges.

A superseding indictment adds two new money laundering charges to the laundry list of fraud charges already filed in the case.

The attorney for Howard Gregory Cordell waived arraignment in the additional charges and entered a plea of not guilty for his client before Judge Walter E. Johnson in U.S. District Court in Rome.