A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh has indicted four people accused of taking part in a lottery scam in Western Pennsylvania.
Charges for Yonel Burnett, 28, Omar McKenzie, 34, Shemeca Shields, 29, and Nicole Lamont, 30, were announced on Monday.
The Department of Justice accuses the four of stealing more than $4.5 million from elderly and vulnerable people in our area, and elsewhere in the U.S.
Investigators say the scheme involved falsely telling victims they won a multi-million dollar sweepstakes, but they needed to pay certain taxes or fees first, and the claims were often reinforced with false documents that sometimes bore the seals of government agencies.
These four face charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Seven others were charged in the same scheme in December 2023.
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