Jamaican woman faces deportation for US sweepstakes scam
ST GEORGE, Utah (AP) — A woman from Massachusetts accused of scamming a Utah elderly woman out of US$160,000 has been sentenced.
A federal judge sentenced 27-year-old Raven Shakes on Monday to four years and three months in prison and possible deportation back to her home country of Jamaica after she pleaded guilty to mail fraud.Court documents state Shakes called the victim in 2016 and told her she had won US$11.5 million in a sweepstakes. She told the woman she was automatically enrolled in the sweepstakes because she paid her utility bills. Shakes told her to send money for payment of taxes and other fees associated with claiming the multimillion-dollar prize.Attorneys had said Shakes was organised and called the woman to collect money nearly 500 times over the four-month time period.
