Raymond Calvin Smith and Bruce Milik Smith, brothers from LaPorte, Indiana, have been sentenced to prison following their guilty pleas to federal felony charges. The sentencing was announced by Acting United States Attorney Tina L. Nommay and delivered by United States District Court Judge Cristal C. Brisco.
Raymond Smith received a sentence of 70 months in prison along with two years of supervised release. His brother, Bruce Smith, was sentenced to 39 months in prison and will also serve two years of supervised release. Together, they are required to pay $723,832.64 in restitution to the victims of their crimes. Additionally, Raymond Smith must pay $162,928.62 in restitution to the IRS.
The charges stem from a fraud scheme that the brothers operated between January 2021 and December 2021 using Indiana mobile sports wagering applications. They used personal information such as bank account numbers and passwords from approximately 60 victims to create accounts on at least eight different sports wagering platforms. This allowed them to transfer money from the victims' bank accounts into their own possession. The total amount stolen was $723,832.64, with an additional attempted theft of $930,782.00 that was unsuccessful.
Both brothers pled guilty to mail fraud related to this scheme; Raymond Smith also admitted guilt for tax evasion concerning his earnings from these activities in 2021.
The investigation involved multiple agencies: the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC). Assistant United States Attorney Luke N. Reilander prosecuted the case.