Lottery scammer sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution
ROANOKE, Va. – A Jamaican citizen residing in Virginia was sentenced to prison today for his role in an international lottery scam, the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and charges brought by the Justice Department.
Carlos O’Brien Ricketts, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Michael F. Urbanski of the Western District of Virginia to serve 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $74,450 in restitution to his victims.
Ricketts was indicted on Nov. 6, 2014, by a federal grand jury in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in connection with a fraudulent lottery scheme based in Jamaica that induced elderly victims to send thousands of dollars to cover fees for lottery winnings that the victims had not in fact won. On March 24, Ricketts pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
“Homeland Security Investigations is committed to disrupting and combatting these international lottery schemes,” said Special Agent in Charge Clark E. Settles of HSI Washington, D.C., who oversees the agency’s Harrisonburg office. “While fraudulent schemes of any kind are despicable, targeting vulnerable populations is especially depraved and will not be tolerated.”
As part of his guilty plea, Ricketts acknowledged that, had the case gone to trial, the government would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that from May 2010 through April 2011, he was a middleman for a fictitious sweepstakes operating from Jamaica. According to the indictment, a co-conspirator induced elderly victims in the United States to send thousands of dollars in cash and checks to Ricketts to cover fees via mail and wire transfers for purported lottery winnings.
Ricketts further acknowledged that the government would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he received payments under various names at his home address in Stephens City, Virginia, and at another address in Winchester, Virginia; and he kept part of the money for himself and sent the remainder of the money to Jamaica, sometimes using aliases and addresses other than his own in order to evade detection.
“The masterminds of lottery fraud from Jamaica use co-conspirators in the United States not only to help collect money from innocent victims, but also to make their scheme appear less suspicious,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who direct or facilitate these international lottery schemes.”
“Fraud schemes like this one that prey on senior citizens will not be tolerated,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Giorno of the Western District of Virginia. “Our office will provide whatever resources and assistance may be required in order to identify and bring these criminals to justice.”
SAC Settles commended the Justice Department’s Civil Division Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Grayson Hoffman of the Western District of Virginia for their efforts.
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