Jamaican National Sentenced to Three Years for $600,000 Lottery Scam Targeting Washington Retiree

TACOMA, Wash. — A Jamaican national was sentenced to three years in prison late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma for wire fraud connected to a lottery scam that took more than $600,000 from an elderly retiree in southwest Washington, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced.

The victim, a retiree in southwest Washington, lost $600,000. The scam followed a common pattern in which perpetrators contact targets claiming they have won a lottery prize but must first pay fees or taxes to release the winnings. The defendant used wire transfers to collect the money.

The sentence marks the conclusion of the case for this defendant. Prior to sentencing the defendant faced a statutory maximum of 20 years on the wire-fraud count. The three-year term of imprisonment will be followed by a period of supervised release whose length was not detailed in the announcement.

Downstream the conviction triggers standard federal enforcement steps. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek forfeiture of any traceable proceeds. Immigration authorities will initiate removal proceedings after the prison term because the defendant is not a U.S. citizen.

The case also adds to data federal agencies use to map lottery-fraud networks operating from Jamaica, which in turn informs outreach campaigns by the Federal Trade Commission and postal inspectors to warn households headed by people over 65.

This sentencing is the latest federal action against Jamaican lottery scams that have repeatedly targeted retirees in the Pacific Northwest. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has brought similar wire-fraud cases in recent years after elderly victims reported sudden large transfers to overseas accounts.

The Department of Justice release provides no additional details on co-conspirators or parallel investigations.