Steven Dale Audette Gets 20 Years for $3.5M Mafia Scam

Steven Dale Audette, 59, of Duluth, MN, was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release after masterminding a two-decade-long extortion scheme that bled $3.5 million from three victims in Scottsdale, Arizona. U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan handed down the sentence yesterday in Phoenix, marking the end of a criminal charade built on mafia myths, government conspiracies, and threats of murder.

Audette was convicted by a federal jury on March 24, 2016, on one count of conspiracy and ninety counts of wire fraud. His wife and co-defendant, Mary Roach, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to 33 months in prison. The trial exposed a web of lies in which Audette claimed he was on the run from the mafia and needed cash to pay off the CIA and FBI for protection—a fabricated narrative he used to manipulate and terrorize his victims.

For over twenty years, Audette systematically drained his victims, threatening to murder their family members—including children—if payments stopped. The money, extorted through relentless phone calls and menacing demands, was not hidden or hoarded but flaunted on luxury cars, lavish travel, homes, and gifts to friends and relatives. His operation spanned multiple states, including Arizona, Minnesota, Texas, and Alabama, as he evaded detection by constantly shifting locations.

The scheme unraveled thanks to a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Investigators traced financial records, wire transfers, and digital footprints that exposed the fraud and dismantled Audette’s false identity as a fugitive caught in a shadow war between crime syndicates and federal agencies.

“Through lies, deceit, and threats Audette took advantage of the generosity and vulnerability of the victims. We will vigorously pursue and bring to justice those who would defraud the public,” said United States Attorney John S. Leonardo, whose office prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin M. Rapp and Andrew C. Stone led the prosecution in the District of Arizona, Phoenix.

The case, prosecuted under CR-14-00858-PHX-STL, stands as a grim reminder of how psychological manipulation and financial fraud can converge into a decades-long nightmare. With the release number 2017-002_Audette etal, the DOJ underscores its commitment to holding white-collar predators accountable—even when their weapon of choice isn’t a gun, but a phone line and a lie.