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New Yorker sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for lottery scheme that targeted Estes Park resident

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A Brooklyn, N.Y., resident was sentenced to nine years behind bars for his role in a lottery scheme that scammed an elderly Estes Park woman out of nearly 1 million dollars.

Leonard Luton was connected of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and eight counts of aiding and abetting mail fraud. He was sentenced Wednesday and was ordered to pay $881,471.41 in restitution for his role in the scam, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.

According to court documents, Luton and a fellow Jamaican national told the victim she won $2.8 million and a Mercedes Benz in the lottery, but needed to pay “thousands” in fees to receive the winnings. 

The woman was instructed to mail packages of cash and cashier’s checks along with six iPhones to the home of a friend of Luton. Officials did not say whether the friend was the co-conspirator.  

Luton made two trips to the victim’s home in Estes Park to pick up packages of cash beginning in October 2018. On one occasion, the co-conspirator went to the victim’s door early in the morning and identified himself as an FBI agent, presented a fake badge and told her to hand over a package with $65,000 in cash, according to court documents.

Several months later, Luton returned to the victim’s home and was arrested. At the time he was in possession of the iPhone purchased by the victim. 

At the time of Luton’s arrest, the victim had paid more than $970,000 to the conspirators, according to the release. 

“Lottery scams are just one way that fraudsters prey on the elderly and vulnerable victims,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matt Kirsch. “Together with our law enforcement partners, we are working to protect the elderly and to make scammers like Luton face justice.”

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