Jamaican National Extradited to United States on Fraud and Money Laundering Charges

HARRISBURG - The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Ashanie M. Campbell, 29, of Panama City, Panama and Jamaica, and Jeremie L. Cotton, 38, of Las Vegas, Nevada, were both charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. In addition, Campbell faces additional charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, and interstate transportation of property taken by fraud.

According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, Campbell was extradited from Panama to the United States this week. Cotton previously appeared to face these charges following his arrest in December 2025.

The 29-count indictment charges Campbell and Cotton with participating in a "lottery scam," in which fraudsters pretended to reach out to people in the United States on behalf of Publishers Clearing House. The indictment alleges that Campbell, who resided in Jamaica in 2020 and traveled to Panama around May 2021, had access to and used a Google account with the address [email protected] in connection with this scheme. The indictment also alleges that five specific victims, including one who, in 2020, was approximately 75 years old and was a resident of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, were contacted by phone and email and told they had won large cash prizes from Publishers Clearing House. The victim from Mechanicsburg, who is known as VICTIM 1 in the indictment, was also told that he won a Land Rover.

Victims were allegedly told that in order to claim their prize winnings, they had to prepay certain expenses, such as taxes and administrative fees. Once victims agreed to send and did send payments, they were then told that additional fees were due, and they were solicited for larger payments. According to the indictment, Cotton was a U.S.-based intermediary that Campbell used to receive fraud-derived money transfers from lottery scam victims. Furthermore, financial transfers were allegedly sent from an account belonging to Cotton to various other associates of Campbell, including to a bank account in Panama belonging to an individual who was a contact of Campbell.

Coconspirators in the United States purchased a salvage Land Rover and used parts shipped to them by VICTIM 1 to repair the vehicle. Around October 2020, the Land Rover was shipped from an auto body shop in Queens, New York to a car dealership in Kingston, Jamaica, where it then came into the possession of Campbell in Jamaica.

"Lottery scams exploit the hope of a life-changing prize and can leave victims facing devastating financial losses," said Christopher Nielsen, Inspector in Charge of the Philadelphia Division for the Postal Inspection Service. "This extradition reflects our commitment to pursuing those accused of defrauding Americans, wherever they may be, and the importance of working with our law enforcement partners to bring them before a court. We urge anyone told to pay taxes or fees upfront to collect a prize to stop and verify the claim before sending money."

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service Harrisburg Resident Agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ravi Romel Sharma is prosecuting the case, and the Office of International Affairs assisted in the extradition.

The maximum penalty under federal law for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, mail fraud, and wire fraud is 20 years of imprisonment on each count. For each conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, mail fraud, or wire fraud, an additional term of imprisonment of up to 10 years may also be imposed if the Government proves that the offense victimized ten or more persons over the age of 55 or targeted persons over the age of 55. The maximum penalty under federal law for interstate transportation of property taken by fraud is 10 years of imprisonment. For each conviction, the Judge may also impose a term of supervised release following imprisonment and a fine. A sentence following the finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

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