Oneike Mickhale Barnett, a Jamaican citizen, was sentenced in
connection with his role in a fraudulent lottery scheme based in Jamaica that
targeted victims in the United States.
Barnett was arrested in Orlando, Fla., in August 2013, following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Ft. Lauderdale on Aug. 9, 2012. Barnett pleaded guilty on Feb. 28, 2014, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
As part of his guilty plea, Barnett acknowledged that had the case gone to trial, the United States government would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that, from 2008 through 2012, he was a member of a conspiracy in which elderly victims were informed that they had won a large amount of money in a lottery and were induced to pay bogus fees in advance of receiving their purported lottery winnings.
In an effort to convince the victims that the lottery winnings were real, the conspirators sent them written and electronic communications discussing their purported lottery winnings which claimed to be from a genuine sweepstakes company, and from federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve.
Also as part of his guilty plea, Barnett acknowledged that the government would have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he knew the claims of lottery winnings were completely fabricated and he, along with his co-conspirators, kept the victims’ money for their own benefit without paying any lottery winnings.
Barnett was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison and 5 years supervised release. Barnett also was ordered to pay $94,456 in restitution.
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