Clifford D. Johnson, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana
Raymond Calvin Smith, 27, and Bruce Milik Smith, 25, brothers from LaPorte, Indiana, have been sentenced to prison by United States District Court Judge Cristal C. Brisco. The sentencing follows their guilty pleas to federal felony charges, as announced by Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay.
Raymond Smith received a sentence of 70 months in prison with an additional two years of supervised release. His brother Bruce was sentenced to 39 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Both were ordered to pay restitution amounting to $723,832.64 to the victims affected by their actions. Additionally, Raymond Smith is required to pay $162,928.62 in restitution to the IRS.
Court documents reveal that between January 2021 and December 2021, the Smith brothers orchestrated a fraud scheme involving Indiana mobile sports wagering applications. They used personal information such as bank account numbers and passwords from victims to create multiple accounts on at least eight different sports wagering platforms under the victims' names. This allowed them to transfer funds from the victims' bank accounts into their own possession.
The fraudulent activities impacted approximately 60 individuals with total thefts amounting to $723,832.64 and an attempted but unsuccessful theft of an additional $930,782.00. Both brothers admitted guilt for mail fraud while Raymond also confessed to tax evasion related to his illicit earnings in 2021.
The investigation was conducted by several agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC). Assistant United States Attorney Luke N. Reilander led the prosecution.
