Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, Tully Lovisa pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown to conspiracy to commit mail fraud by sending prize-promotion mailings that led recipients, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, to believe that they could claim large cash prizes in exchange for a modest fee. Lovisa also pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a related scheme to defraud the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, and Philip R. Bartlett, Inspector-in-Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, New York Division (USPIS), announced the guilty pleas.
As he admitted at his guilty plea, Lovisa’s prize promotion mailings were fraudulent. None of the victims who submitted fees, which in total exceeded $30 million, received a substantial cash prize. Lovisa’s involvement in the scheme was also in violation of prior court orders that resulted from a lawsuit against him by the FTC. As part of his resolution the FTC lawsuit, Lovisa was ordered by a federal court to sell a home he owned in Las Vegas, Nevada, and turn over the proceeds to the FTC. Lovisa arranged for a sham sale of the house in September 2012 for $155,500, and then sold the house in April 2015 for $540,000 and kept the proceeds.
When sentenced, Lovisa faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, as well as forfeiture of at least $1 million and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss from each offense.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division. Assistant United States Attorney Charles P. Kelly, with Trial Attorneys Daniel Zytnick and Timothy Finley of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch, are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant United States Attorney Tanisha R. Payne is in charge of the forfeiture.
