A Coral Springs man is facing federal charges after authorities say he was part of a group that scammed more than 100 people, most of them seniors, out of over $3.5 million through a fake sweepstakes scheme. His name is Evans Class Brown, and he’s 27 years old.
Brown was taken into custody on August 19, 2026, on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service and held at the Broward Sheriff’s Office main jail in Fort Lauderdale. He’s awaiting extradition to South Carolina, which is where the case actually started and where the federal prosecution is moving forward.
How the Scam Worked
The setup here is a classic one, honestly, just run at a bigger scale than most. Victims were told they had won large cash prizes through a sweepstakes. But before they could get their winnings, they were told they needed to pay taxes and fees first.
So they paid. Some sent money through the mail, others by wire transfer, all believing a big payout was right around the corner. It never came. Prosecutors say the group then laundered the money, kept some for themselves, and sent a portion of the proceeds to co-conspirators in Jamaica.
More than 100 people fell for it. Federal prosecutors described a “substantial portion” of the victims as senior citizens, which tracks with how these kinds of scams usually work. Older adults get targeted more often, and honestly, they tend to lose more too. FTC data from 2024 shows adults 80 and older had a median fraud loss of $1,650, compared to just $417 for people in their 20s. Sweepstakes and lottery scams alone cost older Americans about $145 million that year.
Brown Isn’t Facing This Alone
This wasn’t a one-man operation. Federal prosecutors in Charleston, South Carolina named several co-conspirators earlier this year, including Kemar Christopher Edwards, Xavier Gordon, Warner Gordon, and Kevin Milton Simpson, all from the Charleston area, plus another Florida resident, Tashagae Narcia Leslie, of Orlando. Two more defendants, Justine Danielle Smith and Marcia Minora Lawrence, showed up in a grand jury indictment as well. Smith was arrested back in June in Connecticut.
Brown faces charges including wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. Given how the group is described in court documents, it sounds like this was a fairly coordinated, multi-state operation rather than something thrown together on the fly.
What Happens Next
Once extradition to South Carolina goes through, Brown’s case will move forward there alongside the other defendants. Right now, everything against him is still an allegation, and he hasn’t been convicted of anything.
Cases like this are part of a bigger pattern federal agencies are watching closely. The Justice Department co-chairs an International Mass-Marketing Fraud Working Group with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, specifically to go after cross-border scams like this one that often route money overseas. Given how much money seniors lose to these schemes every year, it’s not hard to see why that kind of coordinated effort exists.