Mt. Vernon woman pleads guilty in federal court to leading conspiracy to purchase lottery tickets with stolen credit cards
A Mt. Vernon, Mo. woman pleaded guilty in federal court for leading a conspiracy to purchase nearly 2,000 lottery tickets with stolen credit cards.
Amy Young, 42, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
Young enlisted the help of others to contact the Missouri Lottery Commission to obtain cash prizes for any winning lottery tickets that were fraudulently purchased using stolen credit cards. They kept a portion of the money for themselves and turned over the rest of the money to Young.
According to the indictment, Young used stolen credit cards to purchase at least 1,957 Missouri Lottery tickets with a value of $62,082 from a Joplin Phillips 66 station. Additionally, Young and her co-conspirators received $54,248 in cash prizes for the winning tickets purchased using stolen credit card numbers.
In total, between the fraudulent credit card transactions and the prize money fraudulently received, Young and her co-conspirators fraudulently received at least $116,330.
Young’s co-defendant, Larry Duane Green, 56, of Mt. Vernon, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on April 15, 2024, and is pending sentencing.
Under federal statutes, Young and Green are subject to sentences of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney is prosecuting this case. The F.B.I., the Joplin Police Department, and the Springfield Police Department conducted the investigation.