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Press Release

Second Jamaican National Sentenced for Stealing more than $970,000 in Lottery Scam

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Colorado

DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces Jamaican national Rajay Dobson of Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $881,477.41 in restitution for his role in a lottery scheme that targeted an elderly woman in Estes Park, Colorado.

According to court documents, Dobson and another Jamaican national, Leonard Luton, conspired to convince an elderly victim that she had won a $2.8 million dollar lottery and a Mercedes Benz but needed to pay thousands of dollars in “fees” in order to receive her winnings.  During the scam, Dobson instructed the victim to mail packages of cash and cashier’s checks, in addition to six iPhones, to the addresses of Luton’s friends. Dobson called the victim hundreds of times, grooming her to convince her to carry out his instructions.

On two occasions, at Dobson’s direction, Luton made trips to the victim’s home in Estes Park to pick up packages of cash. During the first trip in October of 2018, one of Luton’s co-conspirators went to the victim’s door at 1:30 a.m., identified himself as an FBI agent, showed her a fake FBI badge, and directed her to hand over a package containing $65,000 in cash. On the second trip in January of 2019, Luton was arrested at the victim’s residence when he arrived to pick up more cash. Upon his arrest, Luton was in possession of one of the iPhones purchased by the victim. In total, the victim was scammed out of more than $970,000.

United States District Court Judge Christine M. Arguello sentenced Dobson on June 29, 2020. He pleaded guilty on March 24, 2022 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The Court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $881,477.41 and imposed a $100 special assessment fee.

“These fraudsters took advantage of one of our community’s most vulnerable victims,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan. “We want to make it clear: individuals who prey on the elderly will be held accountable.”

"Scammers often prey on elderly individuals, who might be embarrassed and reluctant to come forward. In this case, by the time legitimate law enforcement was notified, the victim was defrauded of almost one million dollars," said Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider. "The FBI is committed to combating these scammers, even those located outside of the United States."

Luton was sentenced on August 4, 2021, to 108 months in prison after being convicted at trial in February of 2020. His sentence was enhanced due to multiple instances of obstruction of justice. He was also ordered to pay $881,477.41 in restitution to the victim and an order of forfeiture was issued in the amount of $484,123.16.

After Luton was sentenced, the United States successfully located, arrested, and extradited Dobson from Jamaica.

This case was investigated jointly by the FBI and the Estes Park Police Department with assistance from the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorneys Martha Paluch, Sarah Weiss and Elizabeth Young prosecuted this matter.

CASE NUMBER:  19-cr-00098

 

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Contact

Deborah Takahara
Public Affairs Specialist
deborah.takahara@usdoj.gov

Updated June 30, 2022

Topic
Elder Justice