VALDOSTA, Ga. — A Colquitt County woman pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a case that involved manufacturing a fake fatality, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

Brandi L. Browning, 35, of Norman Park, entered her plea in Valdosta’s federal court Tuesday, the justice department said in a statement. Browning faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, as well as mandatory restitution.

A sentencing date has been scheduled for Dec. 9 in Albany.

Browning contacted a Kansas City financial company in late 2017, expressing a desire to sell a pending life insurance claim, the statement said.

Browning told the company that a friend had died in a car accident, and under a life insurance policy, Browning was entitled to receive $250,000. Browning further told the financial company that she was willing to sell her right to the $250,000 policy in exchange for $217,500. While the person Browning named did have such a life insurance policy, Browning was not the named beneficiary of that policy, nor had the friend died in an accident, the justice department said.

Browning provided falsified documents and other fraudulent information to the financial company, including an agreement with a fictitious attorney that claimed Browning was a party to a wrongful death lawsuit arising from the made-up car accident. As a result of the fraud, on January 5, 2018, the company wired $217,500 to a bank account that belonged to Browning’s mother-in-law, who was unaware of the fraud, the statement said.

Browning told her mother-in-law that the money was an inheritance her husband had received, and that same day checks were written to purchase two vehicles for Browning and her husband, as well as a $128,329 manufactured home in Browning’s name. Within weeks, all of the $217,500 had been spent, according to the justice department.

“To falsify the death of a person to commit insurance and wire fraud is truly reprehensible,” said Clint Bush, United States Secret Service, resident agent in charge.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Sedgewick County, Kansas, District Attorney’s Office.