‘The victim lost her home’: Jamaican man sentenced for $600K lottery scam targeting elderly WA woman

A Jamaican national was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for wire fraud from his lottery scheme that cost an elderly victim more than $600,000.

Roshard Andrew Carty, 34, was arrested in Jamaica on August 21, 2025, and later arrived in Washington for arraignment on October 23, 2025. Carty pleaded guilty in February.

“This defendant was relentless in defrauding a vulnerable victim,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “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.”

A fake $22 million prize and 4 years of relentless contact

Carty first made contact with the 73-year-old southwest Washington victim in 2020, according to records filed in the case. Carty posed as an employee of Publisher’s Clearinghouse, claiming the victim had won $22 million and a car in the lottery, though she needed to pay taxes and fees in order to access her winnings.

Carty convinced the victim that the FBI was recording their call and told her she couldn’t tell anyone about her win. Between August 2020 and February 2024, Carty convinced the victim to send more than $600,000 to various money couriers throughout the U.S., which was later directed to Carty in Jamaica.

The initial requests for cash began as small installments, but grew in size over time. Carty commanded the victim to remove small amounts of money from her accounts and send them to locations in the U.S. via FedEx. The victim was also told that the money had been lost in transit and demanded more.

Carty told the victim to borrow against her home so she could send additional funds. The victim was ultimately convinced to sell her home to cover other “costs and fees” to claim her prize.

The DOJ noted Carty was relentless in contacting the victim, using various phone numbers and texting programs to communicate. Carty contacted the victim thousands of times throughout the scheme. When the victim tried to cut contact with Carty, he tried to send tow trucks, and pizza deliveries, and asked her landlord for a welfare check in an attempt to reconnect with her.

“Mr. Carty relentlessly and cruelly manipulated and intimidated his elderly victim to deprive her of her life savings for his own profit,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “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. Ultimately, the victim lost her home without receiving any of the fictitious prize money Mr. Carty had promised.”

Investigators believe other victims were targeted, worried Carty will offend again

The victim was not the only one impacted in the scheme, and investigators fear that Carty may return to fraud following his prison term, according to the DOJ.

“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 government pointed out in Carty’s sentencing memorandum. “Carty knew Victim 1, Victim 2, and likely others were insolvent because of him, and yet he persisted in his scam. And unlike with U.S.-based defendants, the U.S. Probation Office cannot effectively monitor Carty when he returns home.”

Carty was indicted in November 2024 and consented to extradition to the United States following his arrest in August 2025 in Jamaica. He then pleaded guilty in February.

The U.S. Embassy in Jamaica has a webpage dedicated to lottery scams that stem from the country.

“The bottom line: You never should pay to receive a prize, and any request for advance fees is a scam,” the DOJ stated.

Follow Jason Sutich on X. Send news tips here.