Deryl Wright Sentenced for Elder Fraud Scheme

Deryl Wright, a 42-year-old man from Pekin, Illinois, is headed to federal prison for two years after defrauding an elderly victim out of more than $100,000 in a calculated inheritance scam. U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade handed down the 24-month sentence, ordering Wright to pay full restitution of $100,585 to his victim. The ruling lands with weight in a region increasingly battered by financial predators targeting the vulnerable.

Wright, of the 1400 block of Camden St., has been in federal custody since his arrest on October 2, 2017. His scam began in 2015 and stretched through April 2017, during which he spun a web of lies claiming his father had died and he was set to inherit a large sum of money. He told the elderly victim he needed short-term loans to access the inheritance check—promising swift repayment. There was no inheritance. There was no check. Just lies.

Instead of repaying the victim, Wright used the stolen funds to finance his personal lifestyle. Over two years, the victim handed over life savings based on false promises, trusting Wright’s story. The betrayal cut deep, leaving emotional and financial wreckage in its wake. No amount of restitution can erase the damage done to a senior citizen exploited in their twilight years.

On November 22, 2017, Wright pleaded guilty to federal charges, admitting his role in the fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of Illinois prosecuted the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine G. Legge leading the charge in the Peoria Division. Her office emphasized that Wright’s crime wasn’t just theft—it was a violation of trust, preying on compassion and age-related vulnerability.

The Pekin Police Department conducted the initial investigation, uncovering the truth behind Wright’s fabricated story. The case was later folded into a broader Department of Justice elder fraud sweep announced February 22, 2018, targeting more than 250 defendants nationwide. The DOJ has since made elder fraud a top enforcement priority, recognizing the surge in scams targeting seniors.

Elder fraud victims or witnesses are urged to report incidents to the Federal Trade Commission via www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or by calling 877-FTC-HELP. Additional resources are available through the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime at www.ovc.gov. As cases like Deryl Wright’s show, the predators are real—and so must be the response.

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