标签： Jamaica

In a landmark cross-border fraud case concluded this week, a 34-year-old Jamaican national convicted of orchestrating a years-long lottery scam that stripped a 73-year-old southwest Washington retiree of more than $600,000 — including her home — has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Roshard Andrew Carty, extradited to the United States earlier this year to face charges, received his sentence Thursday during a hearing at the U.S. District Court in Tacoma, following his guilty plea entered in February 2026. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington publicly released details of the ruling Friday, laying bare the calculated, relentless tactics Carty used to exploit his vulnerable victim over nearly four years.

Court documents trace the origins of the scheme back to 2020, when Carty first initiated contact with the elderly victim. Posing as a representative of the well-known sweepstakes organization Publisher’s Clearinghouse, he falsely claimed the victim had been selected to receive a $22 million cash grand prize and a new luxury vehicle. To access the supposed windfall, Carty insisted, the victim first needed to pay a series of upfront taxes and processing fees. To prevent her from discovering the fraud, he added a chilling layer of coercion: he claimed the FBI was recording all their conversations and ordered her not to disclose the win or the required payments to any third party.

What began as small, incremental requests for cash quickly ballooned into a systematic looting of the victim’s life savings. Between August 2020 and February 2024, Carty convinced the victim to transfer more than $600,000 to a network of money couriers operating across the United States, who then forwarded the entire sum to Carty in Jamaica. When the victim ran out of liquid savings, Carty manipulated her into borrowing against her home equity, ultimately pressuring her to sell the property entirely to cover the bogus fees. He repeatedly lied that previous transfers had been lost or stolen, demanding additional payments to keep the fake prize claim alive.

Prosecutors emphasized that Carty’s efforts to maintain control of the victim were unprecedented in their persistence. Over the course of the fraud, he contacted her thousands of times using a rotating array of phone numbers and encrypted messaging apps to avoid detection. When the victim tried to cut off contact, he resorted to increasingly invasive tactics: he sent unsolicited tow trucks to her address, ordered repeated pizza deliveries to her home, and even contacted her landlord to request a welfare check, all as a ruse to re-establish communication and continue his manipulation.

Carty was taken into custody by Jamaican law enforcement on August 21, 2025, and extradited to the U.S. to face arraignment in the Western District of Washington two months later, on October 23. Following his guilty plea in February, prosecutors and law enforcement officials called the sentence a just outcome for a crime that targeted a defenseless older adult.

“Even as [the victim] hesitated and tried to resist,” U.S. District Judge Tiffany Cartwright noted during the sentencing hearing, “Carty persisted in contacting her through a variety of means.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd echoed that condemnation in remarks after the ruling. “This defendant was relentless in defrauding a vulnerable victim,” Floyd said. “At every turn when she tried to end the contact, he persisted in playing on her isolation and her fear of losing the money she had already lost. He stole the money she was counting on to survive in retirement, so that he could buy luxuries and live large in Jamaica. It is despicable conduct deserving of this punishment.”

FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge Mike Herrington added that Carty went so far as to abuse public trust in law enforcement to advance his scheme. “His lies in pursuit of her money even went so far as to abuse the trust and credibility of law enforcement by claiming the FBI was recording a call,” Herrington said. “Ultimately, the victim lost her home without receiving any of the fictitious prize money Mr Carty had promised.”

Investigators confirmed during the case that the southwest Washington victim was not Carty’s only target; court records indicate at least one other confirmed victim, with evidence suggesting additional unknown victims may have been targeted across the country. Prosecutors also raised ongoing concerns about public safety once Carty completes his prison term, noting that once he is deported back to Jamaica, U.S. probation authorities will have no ability to supervise his activities or monitor for repeat offending.

In its sentencing memorandum, the government noted that Carty has shown no remorse for the harm he caused. “Carty’s conduct here shows he is relentless, callous, and has an aptitude for deception—he is unlikely to be deterred by the reality that his conduct left people like Victim 1 destitute,” the memorandum read. “Carty knew Victim 1, Victim 2, and likely others were insolvent because of him, and yet he persisted in his scam. And unlike with US-based defendants, the US Probation Office cannot effectively monitor Carty when he returns home.”

Despite the ongoing risks, law enforcement officials said the case sends a clear message to transnational fraudsters targeting U.S. citizens: cross-border operations do not grant immunity from prosecution. “We hope this case sends a message to would-be lottery scammers that the FBI will work just as relentlessly with our partners to hold fraudsters accountable, even when they reside beyond the borders of the United States,” Herrington said.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — As Jamaica observes its annual Child’s Month, a major philanthropic initiative led by the NCB Foundation is opening new doors for hundreds of children struggling with undiagnosed vision impairments across the island. The organization has contributed $525,000 worth of comprehensive vision care kits to the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB), rolling out much-needed eye health services to young people in underserved communities.

For sixth-grade student Ashayna Williams of John Austin Primary School, the donation has already reshaped her daily classroom experience. Before receiving her new prescription glasses through the program, she struggled to make out text written on the front board, and frequent eye strain made concentrating on lessons nearly impossible. “At first, I worried I would dislike wearing glasses, but now I love them — they even look just like regular sunglasses,” Williams shared. “I can see so much clearer already.”

The cross-sector partnership between NCB Foundation and JSB was built to expand JSB’s existing pediatric vision care program, which delivers free vision screenings, comprehensive eye health assessments, custom prescription glasses, adaptive assistive devices, and ongoing care to children from low-income households who cannot otherwise access these services. As part of this Child’s Month activation, JSB’s clinical teams conducted on-site screenings at five primary schools across Jamaica. After initial evaluations, roughly 200 students were flagged for follow-up assessments and targeted interventions to address their vision needs.

John Austin Primary School was one of the first campuses to host the screening program, after school leaders noticed persistent literacy gaps among multiple grade levels that could not be explained by other factors. When the vision screenings were completed, school principal Ainsworth Williams noted that the initiative uncovered a critical barrier to learning that would likely have remained undiagnosed without the program. “Our literacy coordinator Keisha Taylor flagged that students across multiple grades were consistently struggling during reading activities, so we knew we had to dig deeper,” Principal Williams explained. “What we found was that these kids weren’t struggling to learn — they were struggling to see. We are thrilled our students now have the support they need, and we’re confident this will make a huge difference for both their academic progress and self-confidence.”

Ashayna Williams is among the first group of children to benefit from the vision kit donation, which brings critical eye care support directly to young people living with unaddressed visual challenges. Sandra Harris, coordinator of JSB’s vision center, emphasized that undiagnosed childhood vision impairment remains a widespread, underaddressed issue across Jamaica that directly undermines educational outcomes and young people’s confidence. “Far too many children go months or even years without a vision diagnosis, and the impacts almost always show up first in the classroom: reading difficulties, persistent eye strain, reduced class participation, and fading self-esteem,” Harris said. “The NCB Foundation’s generous support lets us reach more children much earlier, deliver life-changing assessments and interventions, and remove barriers that can hold back a child’s learning and long-term development.”

Beyond the monetary donation and vision kit contribution, the NCB Foundation also organized a special community engagement day for students from John Austin Primary at JSB’s headquarters. The event included interactive, hands-on STEM activities designed and led by local education non-profit STEM Builders Jamaica, giving students the chance to explore new skills in an accessible, supportive environment.

Kadeen Finn Miller, program administrator at the NCB Foundation, explained that the initiative is rooted in the foundation’s core mission: removing preventable barriers to help children fully engage in learning and daily life. “Far too many young people are falling behind in school because of vision challenges that are completely treatable,” Finn Miller said. “At NCB Foundation, we hold firm that something as basic as access to quality vision care should never stand between a child and their right to learn, participate confidently, and reach their full potential. Through this partnership with the Jamaica Society for the Blind, we are grateful to have the opportunity to remove this barrier for the children who need this support most.”