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BELLEFONTE -- A Centre County woman a federal prosecutor called a "money mule" will spend 18 months in prison for her part in a conspiracy that duped people who thought they had won a lottery out of more than $550,000.
Mildred E. Hoy, 61, of the Bellefonte area, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud to which she had pleaded guilty. She is to self-report April 1.
Hoy, who will be on two years' supervised release following her jail term, also must pay restitution of $196,000 that will be shared among five victims who have been identified.
Between December 2019 and January 2021 she received money from people who believed they had won a lottery money to "unlock" their winnings.
The "lottery winners" were told the money was needed to pay taxes and cover other expenses.
Hoy forwarded the money she received to a co-defendant in Dallas or brought bitcoins that she put into his account, Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey W. MacArthur said.
That individual, Mark Hopkins, is awaiting sentencing in federal court in Texas after pleading guilty to a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Referring to the pre-sentence report, Brann said the scheme duped people out of up to $1.5 million with $489,260 going through Hoy.
She claimed she was conned into participating in the scheme by another co-conspirator who she thought loved her.
However, MacArthur argued she was a willing participant noting she continued despite being warned twice in 2020 by the FBI before she was charged that she was committing a criminal act.
She also received checks the month after she pleaded guilty, he said.
This was not a minor crime, Brann said, referring to evidence that showed she sent money 26 times.
When Hopkins pleaded guilty in Texas a year ago, he claimed an individual he identified as M.H. approached him in September 2019 to convert dollars from a lottery scheme into Bitcoins.
Based on the evidence against Hoy, it would appear M.H. is her, MacArthur said.
A co-conspirator in Nigeria directed victims to send their money to M.H. who, according to Hopkins, would forward it to him to buy bitcoins.
Hopkins claimed he told M.H. how to circumvent financial institutions on reporting requirements.
Between September 2019 and October 2020, M.H. conducted 37 transactions with him, converting between $550,000 and $1.5 million into bitcoins, according to Hopkins' guilty plea statement.