A New York man who posed as a relative to bilk millions of dollars from the elderly across the United States, including in Rhode Island, was sentenced to federal prison this week, the US Attorney’s Office said.
Jean Richard Audate, 38, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud in February, prosecutors said.
Jean Richard Audate, 38, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud in February. He was also ordered to pay more than $867,000 in restitution to victims, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
Audate traveled to various locations across the country where he would pick up thousands of dollars in cash payments from elderly people who had been targeted by the so-called “grandparent scams,” the US Attorney’s Office said.
The scam artists typically told their victims that a grandchild or loved one was in jail and needed money for bail or other legal expenses, authorities said.
Audate traveled to numerous locations where he received the cash payments from designated addresses, prosecutors said.
In addition to the prison sentence, Audate was also given three years of supervised release after he serves his prison sentence.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
