Florida Resident Convicted of Operating Mass Mailing Fraud Scheme

A federal jury in Central Islip, New York, has convicted Phillip Priolo, 61, of Florida, of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and four counts of mail fraud, according to an announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Priolo was charged in November 2021 for orchestrating a mass mailing fraud scheme that deceived thousands of victims, many of whom were elderly, by falsely promising substantial cash prizes. Evidence presented during the trial revealed that from March 2015 to December 2016, Priolo and his co-conspirators mailed millions of fraudulent prize notices. These notices claimed recipients had been specifically selected for a large cash prize and would receive the prize upon paying a fee.

However, victims who made payments never received the promised prizes. Although the notices appeared to be personalized, they were revealed to be mass-produced, boilerplate documents that were bulk-mailed to individuals whose names and addresses were on mailing lists.

Priolo is scheduled to be sentenced later this year in Central Islip by U.S. District Judge Nusrat Jahan Choudhury of the Eastern District of New York. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conviction.