PITTSBURGH, Pa./EAST HARTFORD, CT – Four individuals — including an East Hartford woman — have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pa., for roles in a phony sweepstakes scheme that bilked the elderly out of millions of dollars.
The quartet was indicted and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, acting United States Attorney Troy Rivetti announced Tuesday, April 1.
Those charged were:
• Yonel Burnett, 28, of Jamaica, was charged with a two-count Indictment for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.
• Omar McKenzie, 34, of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.; Shemeca Shields, 29, of East Hartford, Conn.; and Nicole Lamont, 30, of Eastham, Mass., who were all charged in a one-count Indictment with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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Burnett and McKenzie were both arrested in Florida, on March 14 and March 27, respectively. Lamont was arrested in Massachusetts on March 23. Shields was arrested in Connecticut on March 26.
The indictments are related to those announced in December 2023, naming seven other co-conspirators, three of whom were extradited from Jamaica.
According to the Indictments, the defendants and their co-conspirators executed a fraud scheme that stole more than $4.5 million from elderly and vulnerable victims in western Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States.
As part of that scheme, conspirators, including Burnett, contacted the victims and falsely told them they had won a million- or multi-million-dollar sweepstakes.
Federal officials said the victims, however, were told they needed to pay certain taxes and fees before they could claim their prize.
"These claims were often reinforced with forged documents purporting to describe the sweepstakes winnings and required taxes and fees, some of which bore the seals of government agencies," wrote Rivetti in a release.
The conspirators. Rivetti said, then directed the victims to send money, including cash, checks, and money orders, to people designated by the conspirators.
"Some of these people were earlier victims of the lottery scam who had been unwittingly fooled into accepting and moving money on behalf of the members of the conspiracy," wrote Rivetti
Others, he said, including McKenzie, Lamont, and Shields, were themselves members of the conspiracy.
After being laundered through a network of bank accounts and money mules, victim money was withdrawn by members of the conspiracy living in Jamaica, officials said.
The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to twice the pecuniary loss to any victim, or both.
For more information on the case, click on this link.