A Newberry Township woman who issued more than $400,000 worth of fraudulent money orders and mailed them to her creditors was sentenced in federal court Tuesday.

Charlotte J. Knisely, 53, of 1785 York Road, was charged with seven counts of mail fraud, according to court records. She was arrested Oct. 20 by a U.S. postal inspector, records state.

She pleaded guilty in April, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Knisely was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison, followed by two years of probation by District Court Judge William W. Caldwell, officials said.

She also must pay $401,841.79 in restitution.

Frauds: Knisely was able to commit the fraud while working for Merchants Express Money Order Co. at 1029 Mumma Road in Lemoyne. It was her job to issue replacement money orders to customers whose orders were lost or damaged, officials said.

Between January 2005 and June 2009, Knisely found money orders that had never been cashed, then issued "replacement" money orders made out to names that were similar to her creditors', but altered to appear to be the names of the people who were originally supposed to receive the money orders, according to U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Heidi Havens.

After printing out the altered money orders, Knisely wrote in additional letters on them to make them payable to her creditors, which included banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies and the Newberry Township tax collector, charging documents allege.

Knisely then sent those fraudulent money orders through the mail, Havens said.

In all, she sent her creditors 1,924 fraudulent money orders worth $401,840.79, charging documents state.

- Reach Greg Gross at ggross@yorkdispatch.com.