Las Vegas, NV (KXNT) - A Las Vegas woman was convicted Tuesday of defrauding a West Virginia woman of thousands of dollars in a lottery scam.
After a three-day trial, 66-year-old Shelly Anne Leipham was found guilty of three counts of wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud, and three counts of money laundering.
According to the Justice Department, Leipham called an elderly victim living in Harrison County, West Virginia and claimed the victim had won one million dollars. Leipham defrauded the victim of nearly $25,000 by directing the victim to send that amount to her over the course of a two-year period by mail and wire.
“Sweepstakes schemes like this continue to be a problem and the victims are often senior citizens,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “We will seek a long prison sentence for Ms. Leipham and anyone else like her who preys upon older West Virginians.”
The government is also seeking a money judgment in the amount of $336,402.
Leipham is facing up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $250,000 for each of the wire fraud and mail fraud counts. She’s facing up to 20 years of incarceration and a fine of up to $500,000 for each of the money laundering counts.
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed will be based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.