PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Two Jamaican nationals, Jason Wedderburn, 42, and Kayan Kitson, 38, have pleaded guilty to participating in a massive lottery scam that defrauded U.S. citizens in several states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts, of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to court documents, beginning in at least May 2018, Wedderburn and Kitson participated in a conspiracy in which conspirators made unsolicited contact with people in several states, often targeting senior citizens, informing them that they had won hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some instances over a million dollars, in a lottery.
For them to collect their winnings, victims were told they first would have to pay “up-front fees” such as taxes or processing costs. The victims were instructed to either mail to Wedderburn, Kitson, or others, checks or money orders made out to the defendants to cover the cost of the fees, or were provided instructions for depositing the funds into bank accounts controlled by the defendants and others.
Payments ranged from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some victims were contacted multiple times and told they needed to make additional payments. Once deposited, the funds were either quickly withdrawn, transferred to other bank accounts, or withdrawn from ATMs in Jamaica.
No lottery winnings were ever paid to any of the individuals contacted by the scammers. According to court documents, one Massachusetts victim was defrauded of more than $325,000. In total, over $600,000 was stolen primarily from elderly victims as part of the scam.
Wedderburn and Kitson appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy, who accepted their guilty pleas. The defendants, who have been detained since their arrest in Florida in August 2020, are scheduled to be sentenced on October 6, 2021.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sandra R. Hebert, with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine D. Lowell. The matter was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the FBI.
Acting United States Attorney Richard B. Myrus thanked the FBI for its assistance in the investigation. The case serves as a warning to those who prey on vulnerable seniors, and we will continue to work tirelessly to bring those responsible to justice.
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Key Facts
- State: Rhode Island
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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