Three men convicted of running $25 million sweepstakes fraud
Three South Florida men have been found guilty of running a $25 million sweepstakes mail fraud that victimized more than 100,000 people — mostly seniors — in the U.S. and other countries, prosecutors said Friday.
Matthew Pisoni, 44, of Fort Lauderdale, Marcus Pradel, 41, of Boca Raton, and Victor Ramirez, 37, of Aventura, were found guilty of conspiring to commit mail fraud, after a five-week jury trial that ended earlier this week in federal court in Miami. Jurors found them not guilty of several other charges.
John Leon, 49, of Wilton Manors, previously pleaded guilty to the same charge last year and had been expected to testify against the others.
But, in a blistering ruling in November, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles barred federal prosecutors from using Leon’s testimony. The judge said prosecutors should not have allowed Leon to spy on his co-defendants and their lawyers after he and his attorney secretly made a plea deal with the prosecution team.
Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/fl-reg-sweepstakes-fraud-guilty-20170728-story.html