A 27-year-old Coral Springs man is facing federal charges after authorities say he helped run a sweepstakes scam that convinced more than 100 victims, mostly seniors, to send over $3.5 million in fake prize fees. Evans Class Brown was taken into custody on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service on August 19 in Broward County and was being held at the Broward Sheriff's Office main jail facility in Fort Lauderdale as he awaits extradition to South Carolina, where the case originated.
Brown faces federal charges including wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, according to WPLG Local 10. Prosecutors say the scheme worked by convincing victims they had won cash prizes in a sweepstakes, then telling them they needed to pay taxes and fees before the winnings could be released. Victims sent that money through the mail or by wire transfer, believing a payout was on the way.
Federal prosecutors identified five of Brown's accused co-conspirators as Charleston residents Kemar Christopher Edwards, 28; Xavier Gordon, 25; Warner Gordon, 27; and Kevin Milton Simpson, 30; along with Tashagae Narcia Leslie, a 25-year-old Orlando resident. Two additional co-defendants named in the case are Justine Danielle Smith, a 34-year-old arrested in Connecticut, and Marcia Minora Lawrence. Under federal criminal procedure, Brown's arrest on an out-of-district warrant means he must go through formal removal proceedings before a U.S. Magistrate Judge before the Marshals Service can transport him to South Carolina for trial.
A Years-Long Scheme Unsealed in South Carolina
Federal court documents unsealed in South Carolina show the grand jury indictment was actually returned back in January, alleging the co-conspirators had been running the sweepstakes scheme continuously since 2019, according to the Post and Courier. The indictment stayed sealed while federal agents worked to locate and arrest the defendants scattered across multiple states. Court records show three of the Charleston-based co-defendants — Xavier Gordon, Kevin Milton Simpson and Kemar Christopher Edwards — were each released on a $25,000 unsecured bond back in late March.
Indictment filings allege the group directed victims to send cash and checks through the mail or hand-deliver payments in person. From there, the money was laundered and a portion sent on to co-conspirators in Jamaica through wire transfers or hand delivery, the outlet reports, while the group kept some of the proceeds for itself. Authorities said the scam ultimately cost victims more than $3.5 million.
Federal Agencies Widen the Net
The investigation that led to the unsealing of the indictment was conducted jointly by Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina. Defendants charged with mail fraud conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy face a statutory maximum of 30 years in federal prison, a $500,000 fine and three years of supervised release if convicted.
Law enforcement action in the case has continued for months after the initial Charleston arrests and bond hearings. Justine Danielle Smith was arrested in Connecticut in June, and Brown's arrest in Broward County this month marks the latest development, as reported by Local 10. It remains an open question whether federal prosecutors will pursue additional indictments or extraditions targeting overseas organizers, or whether any of the domestic defendants will strike plea deals to cooperate against ringleaders based in Jamaica.
Part of a Broader Pattern Targeting Seniors
The case fits a pattern federal officials have flagged repeatedly: sweepstakes rings that funnel money from American seniors to co-conspirators overseas. A Federal Trade Commission report released in December found that reported fraud losses among adults 60 and older quadrupled nationwide between 2020 and 2024, climbing from $600 million to $2.4 billion. Sweepstakes, lottery and prize scams alone cost older adults $145 million in 2024, with seniors reporting losses to such schemes at nearly three times the rate of younger adults.
The financial toll also grows steeper with age, per FTC survey data showing adults 80 and older suffered a median individual fraud loss of $1,650 in 2024, compared with just $417 for victims in their 20s. To combat this kind of cross-border exploitation, the U.S. Department of Justice co-chairs the International Mass-Marketing Fraud Working Group alongside the FBI, HSI, USPIS and foreign law enforcement partners.
Similar cases have surfaced elsewhere in recent months, including a Jamaican woman's extradition in a Graves County lottery scam. For now, Brown remains in Broward County custody as he awaits transfer to South Carolina, where he and his co-defendants could face decades behind bars if convicted.
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