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Las Vegas Woman Charged For ‘Prize’ Fraud Operation ‘That Exploited The Elderly And Vulnerable’
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Andrea Barrow, a 50-year-old woman from Las Vegas, was charged Wednesday for her involvement in a mail scam that tricked thousands of “elderly and vulnerable” people into sending away money for non-existent prizes, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.
Barrow pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, according to the DOJ press release. The fraudulent prize operation accumulated more than $10 million from thousands of victims.
The prize letters falsely promised cash prizes if the recipient paid the required fee, the press release said. The operation happened from 2010 until Feb. 2018.
Barrow is the fourth to plead guilty to the scam, along with co-conspirators Sean O’Connor, Patti Kern and Edgar Del Rio, who had previously pleaded guilty in 2019, according to the press release. After Kern, Del Rio and O’Connor’s admissions of guilt, Barrow and five others were indicted in 2019. The five others, Salvador Castro, Jose Luis Mendez, Miguel Castro, Jose Salud Castro and Mario Castro are set for trial in September.
“The defendant and her co-conspirators exploited the elderly and vulnerable by bombarding them repeatedly with false promises of wealth,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Ethan P. Davis of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division said, according to the press release.
“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates the Department’s continuing commitment to bring to justice those who prey upon the elderly,” Davis said.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case…” while “…postal inspectors executed multiple search warrants…,” according to the press release.
Defendant Pleads Guilty In Multi-Million Dollar Prize Notification Scam Affecting Elderly Victims https://t.co/Wed6n2qXf7
— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) August 12, 2020
Barrow faces up to 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service did not immediately responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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