A Lawrence woman admitted in federal court Monday that she participated in a scheme to illegally use credit cards to buy merchandise without cardholders knowing about it, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren’s office announced Wednesday.

Stacy Lyn Barnes-Catlett, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to a news release.

According to the plea, the woman and others hid the use of the credit cards by calling Douglas County merchants to order merchandise to be given to the caller’s so-called “niece,” Jim Cross, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman, said in the release.

“Barnes-Catlett would pick up the merchandise and deliver it to other conspirators, all without the knowledge of the cardholders,” Cross said. The activity happened from Aug. 12 to Aug. 30, 2005.

Barnes-Catlett and others involved in the scheme obtained more than $7,000 worth of goods from Keller Strings, Hume Music and other businesses in the county, the attorney’s office said.

The woman will be sentenced Oct. 20. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for the wire fraud charge. She faces a mandatory two years on the identity theft charge, Cross said.

The United States Postal Service assisted with the case.

Barnes-Catlett also made her first appearance in Douglas County District Court on Wednesday afternoon because she faces charges and is accused of stealing a plumber’s auger from Cottin’s Hardware & Rental, 1832 Mass., on July 7, 2007. She faces another charge of removing a theft detection device from merchandise prior to purchase on Sept. 25. It’s not clear where that occurred.