Minneapolis Man Pleads Guilty To Wire Fraud, Child Pornography

United States Attorney Erica MacDonald announced the guilty pleas of OTIS RAY MAYS, 26, to charges of wire fraud and receipt of child pornography. MAYS, who was charged in two separate indictments on March 12, 2019, entered his guilty plea on October 3, 2019, before Judge Eric C. Tostrud in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota. A sentencing date for MAYS has not yet been scheduled.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, in May of 2017, a husband and wife went to the Hennepin County Government Center to seek advice about how to evict tenants from a rental property they owned. MAYS approached the couple and falsely stated that he was a lawyer and offered to help them with the eviction of tenants. MAYS later told the couple that their son, a college student, had downloaded to his computer videos that had been “pirated.” In exchange for a $305,000 payment to the owner of the rights in those videos, MAYS claimed he could resolve any legal difficulties arising from the allegedly pirated videos. The victim couple, at MAYS’s direction, purchased a $305,000 cashier’s check, payable to a Minneapolis lawyer, who in turn paid MAYS.  MAYS also impersonated a lawyer on other occasions, and in total stole more than $340,000 from the victim couple.

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, on November 20, 2017, and on December 1, 2017, MAYS transferred to his laptop computer a total of nine video files depicting a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

These cases are the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the Bloomington Police Department, and the Richfield Police Department.

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Docherty.

Defendant Information:

OTIS RAY MAYS, 26

Minneapolis, Minn.

Convicted:

• Wire fraud, 1 count
• Receipt of child pornography, 1 count

###

Additional news available on our website.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600