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A Jamaican national extradited to Grand Rapids pleaded guilty this week to running a multistate lottery scam that took at least $3.4 million from more than two dozen Americans. The guilty plea by Sefton Stewart is a welcome step, but it also shines a light on how easily criminals slip across borders to prey on the elderly and vulnerable.
Guilty plea and the charges
Prosecutors say Stewart admitted to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in a scheme that ran from about October 2019 through September 2024. Court filings show more than 25 victims lost money after being told they had won big prizes and were asked to pay bogus “taxes” and fees. Stewart faces up to 20 years in prison and will be sentenced by United States District Judge Paul L. Maloney. After any sentence, he is to be removed from the United States.
How the lottery scam worked
The fraud used fake bank statements and phony government documents to convince victims the prizes were real. Victims were promised cash and luxury vehicles but were instructed to wire money for taxes and processing fees that never existed. A large portion of the stolen funds flowed to Jamaica, where prosecutors say key parts of the scheme were run. A Florida co-conspirator, Danielle Diarbakerly, already pleaded guilty last year, received 37 months behind bars, and was ordered to pay restitution tied to the scheme.
Extradition, enforcement and the pattern
Stewart was extradited from Jamaica to Grand Rapids by the U.S. Marshals Service in March and has been detained since. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation, and prosecutors praised the international cooperation that made the arrest and prosecution possible. This is not an isolated incident — federal authorities have seen a string of Jamaica‑based sweepstakes and lottery frauds targeting elderly Americans. Extraditions have been key to holding these criminals to account.
Time for tougher action and better protection
Good on the agents and prosecutors who got this one. But getting a guilty plea should not be the end of the conversation. We need faster extraditions, tougher sentences for those who specifically target seniors, and smarter use of asset forfeiture to get money back to victims. We also need public education — plain-language warnings that reach the people scammers hunt most. If government and law enforcement can work together like this more often, these cross-border cons will lose their safe havens. Until then, American families will keep paying the price for international greed.
