On September 4, 2024, Morice Armani Brown, a 24-year-old Jamaican national residing in Florida, was sentenced to 63 months in prison by United States District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville. Following his prison term, Brown will be on supervised release for one year and is required to repay nearly $700,000 in restitution to the victim.
Brown pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, violating 18 U.S.C. ยงยง 1349 and 1341, as part of a plea agreement. His co-conspirators, Marklyn Antonio Forrester, Jamali Jermaine Ramsay, and Jahmarley Kiboki McFarlane, received sentences of 63 months, 36 months, and 57 months, respectively. Another individual, Tessa Nicole Hines, is scheduled for sentencing in October 2024 for her role in laundering money related to the scheme.
Court documents revealed that Brown and his co-conspirators defrauded a 76-year-old resident of Lenoir City by convincing her that she had won millions in a sweepstakes competition. The victim was tricked into paying various fees and taxes to claim the winnings. Brown and his associates traveled to Lenoir City to collect the funds, which they then divided amongst themselves.
The case was announced by United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton, III, of the Eastern District of Tennessee. The charges stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Lenoir City Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anne-Marie Svolto and Michael Deel are prosecuting the case.
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Ooltewah Man Sentenced for Child Exploitation
Dewayne Douglas Price, Jr. of Ooltewah, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for child exploitation crimes and will face lifetime supervised release and sex offender registration.