Charlene Marshall, Elderly Lottery Scam, Pennsylvania 2023

Three New York Residents Sentenced for Elderly Lottery Scam

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania - In a shocking case of elderly lottery scam, three New York residents, Caron Pitter, Rohan Lyttle, and Charlene Marshall, have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution for their roles in a Jamaican lottery scam targeting elderly U.S. victims.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the defendants, who are all lawful permanent residents of the United States originally from Jamaica, received funds from victims of a Jamaican lottery scam between 2017 and 2020. The evidence at trial showed that an individual based in Jamaica posing as a representative of Publisher's Clearing House used 'lead lists' containing the names and personal information of elderly Americans to contact potential victims.

These individuals were contacted by phone and email and falsely told that they had won multimillion-dollar prizes through Publisher's Clearing House but needed to prepay taxes and other fees in order to claim their supposed prizes. These elderly individuals were then directed to make payments in various ways, including by sending packages containing tens of thousands of U.S. dollars through the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and Federal Express.

The victims, including a 79-year-old former resident of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a 71-year-old resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a 91-year-old resident of Walterboro, South Carolina, collectively lost over $1.1 million in connection with this fraud scheme.

The defendants, who operated an auto body shop in Queens, New York known as RoCars Auto and an affiliated used car dealership based in Kingston, Jamaica known as Rolcam Company Limited, used the proceeds of the lottery scam to purchase and repair salvage vehicles from online vehicle auctions.

The sentencing took place on November 2023. The defendants were found guilty of all charges against them following a two-week jury trial. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition to the conspiracy charges against all defendants, Caron Pitter was convicted of several counts of mail fraud, and Rohan Lyttle was convicted of multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and interstate transportation of goods taken by fraud.

The defendants' sentences are as follows: Rohan Lyttle received a sentence of 97 months, Caron Pitter received a sentence of 66 months, and Charlene Marshall received a sentence of 34 months in prison. Each defendant will serve a period of three years of supervised release following their release from prison. In addition, each defendant was ordered to pay a total of $245,147.98 in restitution to certain victims of the lottery scam.

The fourth defendant, Rohan Lytle, Jr., age 27, was charged with some of the same offenses, and he remains a fugitive.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdpa/pr/three-new-york-residents-sentenced-fraud-and-money-laundering-using-funds-elderly