Jamaican Man Gets Six Years for $3.4M Lottery Fraud Targeting 28 US Victims

Sefton Olivair Stewart, 41, was sentenced to six years in federal prison for a nationwide lottery fraud that stole over $3 million from 28 victims.

Six-Year Sentence for Jamaican National in Michigan Lottery Fraud Case

A Jamaican man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison following a nationwide fraud scheme that netted more than $3 million from 28 victims across the United States, cbsnews.com reports.

Sefton Olivair Stewart, 41, received the sentence in a Michigan courtroom on Friday on a federal charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud. The Department of Justice confirmed that Stewart will be deported from the United States upon completion of his sentence.

According to court documents, the scheme ran between October 2019 and September 2024. Stewart and others contacted people across the country, falsely telling them they had won large prizes in a multistate lottery.

"Victims were told they had to pay taxes and fees associated with their winnings before they could obtain their prizes," Stewart's plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan stated. "None of these representations were true."

Federal officials said those involved used counterfeit bank and U.S. government documents to make the fraudulent promises appear legitimate. Among the victims was an elderly man from western Michigan, according to the plea agreement.

Stewart pleaded guilty to the charge in July, court records show.

"Fraudsters who prey on victims with false promises of life-changing prizes will be held accountable, regardless of where they operate," said Homeland Security Investigations Detroit Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeremy Pierczynski in a written statement.

A 37-year-old woman was separately sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with the same scheme.

Source: Google News JM — Crime