HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jennmariey Burchell, age 26, a Jamaican citizen who formerly resided in Panama City, Florida, was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Sylvia H. Rambo for mail fraud.
According to United States Attorney David J. Freed, Burchell and identified and unidentified coconspirators perpetrated a scheme to defraud senior citizens, some of whom resided in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, that were falsely told they had won multi-million dollar international sweepstakes prizes. The purported winners were directed to send Western Union and MoneyGram money transfers, money orders and checks to persons known as “money mules,” ostensibly to pre-pay taxes and other fictitious expenses, in order to collect the non-existent cash prizes. Burchell enlisted the “money mules” to receive and transfer the fraud proceeds to him and other conspirators in Jamaica.
Judge Rambo also ordered Burchell to pay $549,495 in restitution to nine elderly victims in this Jamaican Sweepstakes fraud prosecution.
The case was investigated by the Harrisburg Office of the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorney Kim Douglas Daniel prosecuted the case.
The United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Postal Inspection Service remind all citizens that they should never make an advance payment of any kind on the promise of a sweepstakes prize, loan or grant.
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