Owen Demoy Byfield, Sweepstakes Fraud Scheme, Rhode Island 2026

A Rhode Island man has pleaded guilty to operating a nationwide sweepstakes fraud scheme targeting elderly victims, announced United States Attorney Charles C. Calenda.

Owen Demoy Byfield, a 33-year-old citizen of Jamaica and resident of Georgia, pleaded guilty to mail fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy in federal court in Rhode Island on January 13, 2026.

According to court documents, Byfield and his co-conspirators operated a sweepstakes scam that falsely informed victims they had randomly been entered into a raffle and subsequently won millions of dollars. Victims throughout the United States, including Rhode Island, were contacted through the mail, carriers such as UPS and FedEx, phone calls, text messages, and other wire communications and directed to call a purported ‘prize representative.’

The scammers then used fictitious names to induce victims to send money, valuable property or provide access to their financial accounts. The alleged purpose of these payments was for various fraudulent reasons, including to pay taxes on their winnings, shipping costs, or even to refuse the winnings and be removed from the so-called list of winners of the sweepstakes scam.

In one instance, Byfield used approximately $171,635.00 of the fraudulent proceeds to make a down payment on a residence in Georgia.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John P. McAdams. The matter was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Warwick Police Department.

Byfield will be sentenced on April 16, 2026. The sentences imposed will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Byfield will be subject to immigration removal proceedings following any sentence imposed.

More information about the department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts, visit its website at www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office for Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.

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