Virginia Beach woman sentenced to nearly 5 years in sweepstakes scam that targeted elderly people

A Virginia Beach woman who had been part of a sweepstakes scam agreed three years ago to stop duping elderly people after getting a cease-and-desist order from the United States Postal Service.

But soon after Terry Lynn Miller signed the order in June 2019, she went back to the scheme, defrauding 10 more victims before she was arrested in May 2021, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

Miller, 62, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison Friday. She pleaded guilty in December to one charge each of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.

“She knew exactly what she was doing in 2019,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Gantt said during the sentencing in federal court in Norfolk. “But then she started again right away.”

The sweepstakes scam netted Miller and co-conspirators roughly $220,000 between June 2019 and March 2021, court documents said. More was on the way, but law enforcement intercepted nearly $90,000 sent through the mail.

Miller worked primarily with another person outside the United States, whom she had never met, according to court documents. The conspirators contacted elderly people across the U.S. to tell them they had won millions through a lottery or sweepstakes. But to get the money, the victims would first have to send “taxes and fees” to Miller.

The scams preyed on “the fact that most people in society assume the best” in others, said U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney Jr. as he passed down the sentence. He also noted that Miller was a “minor cog in a larger operation.”

An elderly Colorado couple were among the victims, according to a statement of facts accompanying the plea agreement. In April 2020, they were told they had won $8.5 million in a Mega Millions lottery, but had to pay taxes and fees to get it. In exchange, Miller sent the pair a combination-locked briefcase supposedly containing $500,000.

The couple was told they’d have to pay more to get the combination. Despite paying more, the couple never got the combination. And when law enforcement opened the briefcase, it contained newspapers and a telephone book.

By June 2020, Miller had deposited nearly $130,000 in money orders and checks from the couple — their life savings — into her personal bank accounts, the statement of facts said.

Still, Miller wasn’t living “some kind of lavish lifestyle” from her involvement in the operation, her attorney Larry Woodward contended.

“It’s true she participated in this, but I also think it’s true that she was tricked,” Woodward said.

Although Miller may have been tricked into participating, “she was tricked into doing things that harmed people,” Gibney said.

Ali Sullivan, 757-677-1974, ali.sullivan@virginiamedia.com