Two Jamaicans sentenced to prison for defrauding US citizens in lottery scam
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Two Jamaicans who pleaded guilty to participating in a lottery scam that defrauded elderly victims in multiple states of more than US$700,000, were ordered to spend several months in United States federal prison.
Jason Wedderburn, 41, was on Tuesday sentenced to 36 months in jail, which is to be followed by three years of federal supervised release.
His co-conspirator, Kayan Kitson, 38, was sentenced on October 12, to 30 months in prison, which will be also followed by three years of federal supervised release.
According to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island on Tuesday, Wedderburn and Kitson were detained since their arrest in Florida in August 2020.
They later pleaded guilty in July of this year in US District Court in Providence, Rhode Island to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
According to information presented to the court, which was detailed in the release, a probe by the US Postal Inspection Service determined that beginning in May 2018, Wedderburn and Kitson conspired together with others in Jamaica and in the United States to defraud American citizens through a lottery scam.
Elderly citizens in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and several other states were victims of the sophisticated scam.
As part of the conspiracy, Wedderburn opened and controlled at least four bank accounts through which victim funds passed, while Kitson opened at least one bank account for the same purpose.
“Once ill-gotten funds were deposited, members of the conspiracy in the United States and in Jamaica withdrew cash or transferred proceeds to other accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy,” the US Attorney’s Office said.
According to court documents, some victims were bilked out of tens of thousands of dollars and never received any lottery winnings.
“One Massachusetts victim was defrauded of more than US$325,000. In total, victims were defrauded of more than US$700,000,” the release stated.
Following a probe, the Jamaicans were nabbed in Florida.
