BISMARCK- A prominent Jamaican disc jockey has been arrested entering the United States in Hollywood, Florida, following his indictment by a federal grand jury in North Dakota for telemarketing fraud conspiracy. The Indictment charges Deon-ville Antonio O’Hara, aka ZJ Wah Wa, of Kingston, Jamaica, with participating in an international fraudulent lottery/sweepstakes scheme. The United States Attorney’s Office today announced the unsealing of the amended Indictment, which names 26 individuals who are alleged to have participated in the scam.
In Bismarck, U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon said, “Law enforcement has done an outstanding job unravelling the complex allegations in this case. We unsealed the Indictment in order to be able to again warn North Dakotans that, if someone contacts you over the telephone telling you that you have won a lottery that you did not enter, hang up the telephone because it’s a scam." Purdon continued, “It is a long way from Jamaica to North Dakota; however, as long as there are allegations that fraudsters are targeting our citizens, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to pursue the wrongdoers, wherever they may be."
O’Hara was arrested on allegations that he and his co-conspirators ran a lottery scam in Jamaica that fraudulently induced elderly victims throughout the United States to send millions of dollars to them to cover “fees" for lottery winnings that victims had not in fact won. O’Hara is alleged to have acted as a money courier who would travel to the United States to pick up victim monies and transport it to Jamaica. According to the Indictment, upon his return to Jamaica from the United States in November 2013, O’Hara was stopped by Jamaican Custom officials at Sangster International Airport with $105,000 in U.S. Currency in his possession; the cash is alleged to be proceeds of the lottery scam.
O’Hara has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years per count, a possible fine, mandatory restitution, and possible forfeiture of property.
As of this arrest, the Department of Justice has now charged the following individuals in connection with the scheme:
Lavrick Willocks, 25, of Jamaica
Mario Hines, aka Buju Ramos, 20, of Jamaica
Gregory Gooden, 32, of Jamaica
Gareth Billings, 25, of Jamaica
Akil Gray, 23, of Jamaica
Dario Palmer, aka Innocent Palmer, 22, of Jamaica
Mikael Omarr Gillette, 24, of Miramar, Florida
Shannon O’Connor, 30, of Deerfield Beach, Florida
Christina Renee Hogarth, 25, of Pembroke Pines, Florida
Kimberly Carlo-Jean Hudson, 23, of Jamaica
Xanu Ann Morgan, 21, of Jamaica
Sherlet Anetta Love, 39, of Jamaica
Jason Joseph Jahalal, 24, of Jamaica
Kazrae Gray, age unknown, of Jamaica
Dahlia Elaine Hunter, 49, of Jamaica
Sanjay Williams, 25, of Jamaica
Samantha Brown, 28, of Palm Desert, California
James Hayes Simpson, 72, of Owensboro, Kentucky
Tristan Fisher, 27, of Jamaica
Ricardo Augustus Bryan, 32, of North Lauderdale, Florida
O’Neil Brown, 30, of Jamaica
AlrickMcLeod, aka Birdman, aka Z-Bird, 28, of Jamaica
Natalie Dougherty, 33, of Florence, South Carolina
Lindsay Mattig, 20, of Los Angeles, California
Charles Calvin Bauder, 54, of Jefferson, Texas
Deon-Ville Antonio O’Hara, 24, of Jamaica
Purdon singled out the North Dakota office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) in Florida, and the North Dakota Attorney General’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division (CPAT) for special recognition of their tireless efforts in this ongoing investigation and also thanked a number of other participating law enforcement offices in North Dakota and throughout the world, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); United States Marshals Service (USMS); North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NDBCI); Harvey, North Dakota, Police Department; Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Sheriff; Placer County, California, Sheriff; Charleston County, South Carolina, Sheriff; Pembroke Pines, Florida, Police Department; Jamaican Operations Linked to Telemarketing (JOLT) Task Force; Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF); and, JCF Lottery Scam Task Force (LSTF).
Purdon stressed that an Indictment or Complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt.
An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
