Damion Bryan Barrett, Wire Fraud, Florida 2012

Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud in International Lottery Scheme

A Jamaican man pleaded guilty today in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the Justice Department announced today.

Damion Bryan Barrett, 28, was extradited from Jamaica in February based on charges that he committed fraud as part of an international lottery scheme against elderly victims in the United States. The prosecution is part of the United States' ongoing crackdown on fraudulent international lottery schemes.

'The protection of the most vulnerable members of our society, including the elderly, is one of the top priorities of our Office, and this case again shows that an international border is no defense for those who defraud our senior citizens,' said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.

Barrett was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 9, 2012, and was arrested in Jamaica in January based on the United States' request that he be extradited. On Feb 12, Barrett was the first Jamaican to be extradited to the United States based on charges that he committed fraud as part of an international lottery scheme.

'Scammers in foreign countries preying on elderly victims in the United States are not immune from prosecution in the United States,' said Acting Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department's Civil Division.

At his June 19 sentencing, Barrett faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and mandatory restitution. Barrett's co-defendant, Oneike Barnett, 29, pleaded guilty on Feb 28, 2014, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On April 29, 2014, U.S. District Court Judge William J. Zloch sentenced Barnett to serve 60 months in prison and five years of supervised release, and to pay $94,456 in restitution for his role in this case.

U.S. Attorney Ferrer and Acting Assistant Attorney General Mizer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertha R. Mitrani of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Kathryn Drenning of the Civil Division.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/first-jamaican-man-extradited-united-states-connection-international-lottery-scheme