Four Jamaicans Sentenced to Federal Prison for Lottery Scamming

Four Jamaicans who resided in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, were convicted in a US court on Wednesday, May 11, for their roles in a lottery scam that targeted elderly people across the country.

Evidence obtained by Homeland Security and the United States Postal Service suggests the party defrauded unsuspecting victims of over $300,000 USD, or little over $46 million Jamaican dollars.

According to court documents, the scammers approached victims by mail or phone. They persuaded the targets that they had won millions of dollars in cash and prizes as a result of the competition. However, winners had to pay a processing fee, which was frequently disguised as a tax or other miscellaneous charge, before they could retrieve their rewards.

At least 67 victims have been identified, 25 of them are above the age of 80.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, the stolen funds were withdrawn and transferred to Jamaican co-conspirators. Court documents reveal that the defendants only received a quarter of the proceeds.

The four defendants will all spend time in federal prison. Romaine Gordon and Fabian Grey were sentenced to five years in prison, while Avia Reid was sentenced to more than four years. Powell received a sentence of more than two years in prison.

All four are expected to pay restitution to the victims in the amount of USD $350,000.

Meanwhile, another Jamaican, Greg Warren Clarke, 29, of Montego Bay, was extradited to the United States from Jamaica on Tuesday to face similar charges.

Clarke was charged in a six-count indictment with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and international money laundering, according to the US Department of Justice.

Senior Trial Attorney Arturo DeCastro of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch is prosecuting the case.