MIAMI – A 28-year-old man was extradited from Jamaica on fraud charges in connection with an international lottery scam against elderly victims in the United States, the Justice Department announced last week.
Damion Bryan Barrett is charged in a 38-count indictment in Florida with conspiracy and 37 counts of wire fraud, and with committing these offenses via telemarketing, officials said.
Barrett is the first Jamaican citizen to be extradited from Jamaica to the United States based on charges of defrauding Americans in connection with a lottery scheme, authorities said.
According to the indictment, Barrett and his co-conspirators fraudulently induced elderly victims in the United States to send them thousands of dollars to pay purported fees for lottery winnings that victims had not in fact won.
Barrett was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 9, 2012, and was arrested last month in Jamaica based on the United States’ request that he be extradited.
Barrett’s extradition is the latest step in the United States’ ongoing crackdown on fraudulent lottery schemes based in Jamaica.
According to the indictment, beginning in October 2008, Barrett and his co-conspirators contacted victims in the United States announcing that the victims had won cash and prizes and persuaded the victims to send them thousands of dollars in fees to release the money.
The victims never received cash or prizes, officials said.
The defendant and his co-conspirators allegedly made calls from Jamaica using voice over internet protocol technology that allowed them to use a telephone number with a U.S. area code. According to the indictment, Barrett convinced victims to send money to middlemen in South Florida, who then forwarded the money to Jamaica, the indictment said.
“Persons who commit crimes against American seniors from outside of the United States will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.
“The Department of Justice will find and prosecute those responsible for fraud against American consumers, no matter where the perpetrator resides,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Joyce R. Branda of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Lottery schemes that target elderly victims for fraud cannot, and will not, be tolerated.”
If convicted, Barrett faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison per count, a possible fine and mandatory restitution, officials said.
Barrett’s co-defendant, Oneike Barnett, 29, plead guilty on Feb. 28, 2014, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
On April 29, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Zloch sentenced Barnett to serve five years in prison and five years of supervised release, and to pay $94,456 in restitution for his role in this case.
The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.