Antony Linton Stewart, 40, from Jamaica, was sentenced to 84 months in federal jail for running a fake lottery scheme based in Jamaica, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad also ordered Stewart to pay $1,104,041.74 in compensation, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Court documents show Stewart admitted that from about 2010 through at least August 2016, he led a deceptive lottery scam targeting victims in the U.S. with help from co-conspirators, the department revealed.
The U.S. attorney’s office said Stewart admitted to calling older Americans and falsely claiming they had won money and prizes in a sweepstakes or lotto.
“Dena J. King, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said that stealing money from older people is a terrible crime.”
“Today’s sentence shows that criminals who try to cheat older adults for money will face justice.”
Stewart also told the victims they had to send money to pay for fees and taxes on their claimed winnings, the office said.
The department says he kept reaching out to victims as long as they could be convinced to send more money, even though there was no lotto and no one ever won anything.
“Foreign criminals often use overseas lottery scams to target U.S. citizens, especially older people,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate from the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
“These actions are not acceptable, and the department will ensure that those who take part are held responsible.”
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