MILWAUKEE, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A Jamaican national convicted of participating in a lottery scam was sentenced in Milwaukee Wednesday to five years imprisonment, the result of a plea deal.
O'Brain Junior Lynch, 28, pleaded guilty in June to stealing at least $35,000 from more than 50 people, although authorities said the number of victims is higher and the amount stolen may be as much as $400,000, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Wednesday..
Lynch is believed to be the first Jamaican national charged by federal prosecutors in the United States for the fraud known as the "Jamaican lottery."
Victims in the United States, often elderly, are typically phoned from Jamaica with information they have won a sweepstakes but need to pay a tax or processing fee to obtain their prize. Law enforcement officials have investigated the scam for years, but suspects were often difficult to extradite from Jamaica, the Journal Sentinel said.
