Lottery Fraud Scheme Against Seniors Lands South Florida Man in Federal Prison

MIAMI – A Miami man has been sentenced to 44 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $234,995 in victim restitution for participating in a nationwide lottery fraud scheme targeting seniors. The sentence comes after the defendant pleaded guilty in October 2024 to conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud and to criminal contempt for violating a court order.

From May 2020 to July 2022, Akiel Doman, 34, of North Miami Beach, Florida, and others repeatedly called victims throughout the United States and falsely told them that they had won millions of dollars and often, a car, in a lottery. The caller, falsely claiming to be a representative of the lottery company, told the victims that they needed to first pay fees or taxes to claim their winnings. Others working with Doman gave the victims specific instructions on how, and to whom, to send the purported fees or taxes. In connection with this scheme, the victims sent money, including direct deposits, to Doman’s bank accounts.

Doman also violated a consent decree entered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in 2019 prohibiting him from participating in lottery frauds. United States v. Doman, No. 18-cv-24731.

U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Inspector in Charge Steven L. Hodges of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, made this announcement.

USPIS Miami investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bertha R. Mitrani prosecuted it.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-60133.

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