A Mount Holly 29-year-old who admitted siphoning well over $500,000 worth of goods from high-end clothing stores through a debit-card fraud scheme is sentenced to three years in prison.

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Temeshia McDonald's term is based on one count of access-device fraud, according to the office of New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

She's required to pay restitution totalling $577,690.18 to Victoria's Secret, Banana Republic, Wet Seal and BCBG.

According to investigators, McDonald operated from April 2011 until September 2012, using a tactic known as forced sales - overriding a rejected transaction.

Briefly described, a merchant gets verbal authorization from the bank or credit company issuing the card, and enters a code into a terminal to permit the sale. The merchant and credit source settle the charge at a later date.

Authorities said McDonald took advantage of the fact that the code is not specific, presenting expired or fraudulent cards and going through the motions of contacting card issuers, then rattling off a random code to force the transaction.

The ruse was discovered, prosecutors said, only long afterward when the retailers and credit lenders attempted to settle their figures.

McDonald is believed to have forced more than 500 transactions totalling at least $800,000 in attempted credit purchases for gift cards, clothes and accessories.

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