Ex-TSA agent, Atlanta police officer sentenced in lottery scheme

Oct 26, 2015, 12:29 pm (25 comments)

Scam Alert

A Douglasville, Ga., man must serve 27 months in prison and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty for his role in a Jamaican-based fraudulent lottery scheme targeting senior-adult victims in the United States.

Dominic Hugh Smith, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. of the Western District of North Carolina. Smith was ordered to pay $724,408.79 in restitution, the U.S. Justice Department said in a prepared statement.

In June 2014, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the conduct of telemarketing. Prior to pleading guilty, Smith had been employed both as a Transportation Security Administration agent and an Atlanta Police Department police officer, the Justice Department said.

As part of his guilty plea, Smith acknowledged that had the case gone to trial, the government would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that from December 2010 through at least April 2012, he was a member of a conspiracy in which elderly victims were informed by telephone that they had won a large amount of money and prizes in a lottery and were induced to pay bogus fees in advance of receiving their purported lottery winnings, the Justice Department added.

Victims sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Smith in the United States, the agency said.

The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s effort, working with federal, state and local law enforcement, to combat lottery fraud schemes from Jamaica preying on American citizens, the Justice Department said.

Americans have lost tens of millions of dollars to fraudulent foreign lotteries, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Comments

Bleudog101

What happens to these crooks that are told to pay restitution and don't?  There's probably very little of that money left.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

theyre a little smarter with their money than their victims.

Raven62's avatarRaven62

You did the Crime: Now you got to do the Time! US Flag

KY Floyd's avatarKY Floyd

"ordered to pay $724,408.79 in restitution"

I'm not in favor of debtors' prisons, but I'd have no problems with sentencing him to the shorter of life without parole or making complete restitution.

haymaker's avatarhaymaker

27 months and restitution ?

that's all ?

thrown em in prison now.

Clock on 27 months should start after restitution is paid in full !

eddessaknight's avatareddessaknight

Quote: Originally posted by haymaker on Oct 26, 2015

27 months and restitution ?

that's all ?

thrown em in prison now.

Clock on 27 months should start after restitution is paid in full !

I Agree!

Perhaps criminals can start paying off the restitution to victims by working it off while in prison instead of using their time acquiring law degrees to enabling the offenders find ways of shortening or overturning their sentences ???

Eddessa_Night

Erzulieredeyes's avatarErzulieredeyes

LO L    I personally believe he should do no Jail time. Any greedy idiot that is willing to fall for such a scam deserves to be parted from his/her money. If you did not enter a lottery then you  know you haven't won, especially if you have to send money which is a huge red flag. The so-called victims should go to jail for being a part of a scheme.

Coin Toss's avatarCoin Toss

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Oct 26, 2015

What happens to these crooks that are told to pay restitution and don't?  There's probably very little of that money left.

Statistically, nothing.

psykomo's avatarpsykomo

  Statistically speaking......Congrat'$ to Officer Smith 4 raking in hundreds of thousands off lottery and moon-lighting a government job at same time!

That must take skill that psyko can never ever expect to acquire, cause after years and many hours plus many dollar'$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

still can't bust out of the lottery any money close to what his United States based Operation cashed and happly SPENT$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

zinniagirl's avatarzinniagirl

Quote: Originally posted by Erzulieredeyes on Oct 26, 2015

LO L    I personally believe he should do no Jail time. Any greedy idiot that is willing to fall for such a scam deserves to be parted from his/her money. If you did not enter a lottery then you  know you haven't won, especially if you have to send money which is a huge red flag. The so-called victims should go to jail for being a part of a scheme.

so, because you are a victim, you should go to jail?  Really?  Why? Senior citizens have worked hard all their lives.  They have aged and as a part of that. Process, their brains dont work that well.  Brain fog on simple terms.  These people prey on them because of this.  That is why most scams are against the elderly.  Hope you dont have to experience this but then ahain sometimes it takes experiencing it to understand.

grwurston's avatargrwurston

Twenty seven months. Hmm... With time off for good behavior, it will probably be 18 months at the very most.
And unless he goes back to scamming when he gets out, restitution will probably never happen.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

This guy will do it again. That's why they should tattoo "American" on his forehead and dump him in Syria.

zephbe's avatarzephbe

1-The sentence is not long enough--should be at least 5 years in prison.

2-A certain amount of greed on the victim's part allowed this to happen.  All elderly people are not senile.  American Greed is one of my favorite tv shows.  I am always surprised at someone who worked 30-40 years and managed to save say $400,000 then just give it to some con man.

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by RedStang on Oct 27, 2015

This guy will do it again. That's why they should tattoo "American" on his forehead and dump him in Syria.

OMG I laughed so hard on that one.  Just like the prisoners that tatooed the name of the little girl some trash raped...right on his forehead.

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