3 convicted in $6M prize scheme targeting elderly

A federal jury convicted three men on Tuesday for an eight-year, multimillion-dollar prize-notification scheme that targeted elderly victims.

Jose Luis Mendez, 49, Mario Castro, 55, and Miguel Castro, 58, were convicted of perpetrating a scheme that stole more than $6 million from victims by leading them to believe they could claim a large cash prize if the victims paid a fee of $20 to $30. Instead, the victims who paid the fees received nothing of value, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the district of Nevada.

The three produced fraudulent prize notices at their business in Las Vegas and were partners in companies that sent fraudulent notices.

The men and their conspirators also ignored multiple cease and desist orders from the U.S. Postal Service, and changed names of companies and used straw owners to hide the fraud, according to the release. Four other people have previously pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme.

“The defendants mailed fraudulent prize notices to prey upon and trick victims, many of them elderly, out of millions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Jason Frierson was quoted in the release. “This guilty verdict should be a warning to individuals who commit fraudulent acts.”

The three men helped operate the scheme from 2010 to February 2018, when a court order shut down the fraudulent mail operation, the release said.

All three men were convicted of charges of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 23 and face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.

A fourth defendant, Salvador Castro, was acquitted by the jury of all charges.

The others who have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud include Patti Kern, 65, Andrea Burrow, 43, Edgar Del Rio, 45, and Sean O’Connor, 54.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.