Woman pleads guilty in Internet puppy scam

LONGVIEW, Wash. – A woman who says she didn’t realize what she was doing when she accepted money from people who thought they were buying puppies, then forwarded that money to someone she met online, has entered a modified guilty plea.

Vickie Lynn Huff, 55, entered the plea Wednesday in Cowlitz County Superior Court. Judge Stephen M. Warning said he was “having a hard time with the notion that she was so credulous.”

Late last year, Huff told the Daily News of Longview that a man she knew as “Melvis,” of Lagos, Nigeria, took out newspaper advertisements offering purebred puppies for sale and giving her name as the contact.

Customers from around the country sent money to her, expecting to receive Yorkshire terriers, Maltese or English bulldogs. Huff admitted cashing the checks and wiring the funds to Melvis but said she thought the money was intended for support of an orphanage in Nigeria. No puppies were sent or refunds made.

Under the Alford plea, Huff did not admit guilt but agreed that she would likely be convicted if the case went to trial. Six additional forgery counts were dismissed in a plea agreement with prosecutors.