St James man accused of lottery scamming extradited to US

A Jamaican man accused of fleecing elderly United States citizens in a lottery scam has been extradited.

The US Department of Justice says 40-year-old Damone Oakley of Point district in St James made his initial appearance in federal court in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Oakley is charged on a 16-count indictment with mail and wire fraud.

The indictment was filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in June 2021 and was unsealed after his extradition.

According to the indictment, Oakley sought to unlawfully enrich himself through a fraudulent sweepstakes scheme targeting the elderly. 

It is alleged that victims, throughout the US, received mailings, text messages or phone calls in which they were falsely told that they had won millions and luxury vehicles in sweepstakes, but first needed to pay taxes and fees in order to claim their winnings. 

The indictment further alleges that Oakley, using a variety of names, including “Officer Alex Logan” and “Officer Stan Valentine,” instructed his victims on how to send their money (and to whom the funds should be sent), including through the use of wire transfers, direct bank deposits, the US Postal Service and private commercial mail carriers.

Victims were allegedly directed to send money directly to Oakley as well as to individuals in the US and elsewhere who served as intermediaries and transmitted the money to the Jamaican.

In addition to sending cash or wire transfers, the indictment alleges that victims were directed to purchase electronics, jewellery and clothing and to then have the purchased items shipped to mail forwarding services in Florida.

The victims never received any “winnings.”

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the justice department's civil division, said the department's consumer protection branch is committed to pursuing criminals who defraud vulnerable US consumers – both domestically and abroad – and to prosecute them to the full extent of the law.

“This is the first extradition requested by the United States in accordance with the evidentiary rules contained in Jamaica's recently revised Extradition Act and we are encouraged by the streamlined extradition process that led to the defendant's appearance in federal court to face these charges,” said Boynton.

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