Boulder man sentenced to 10 years in prison for mail fraud targeting elderly Americans

A Boulder man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a scheme targeting millions of consumers in mail fraud.

On Monday, in U.S. District Court in Colorado, former Epsilon Data Management, LLC executive Robert Reger was sentenced to 120 months in prison for mail and wire fraud. David Lytle, Epsilon’s director of business development, of Leawood, Kansas, was sentenced to 48 months in prison. Both men were convicted of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and numerous counts of substantial mail fraud on May 31 following a two-week trial.

“(Monday’s) sentences should make clear that those who illegally use Americans’ personal information to facilitate fraud will face serious consequences.” said Principal Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute individuals who use their access to our personal data to target vulnerable Americans for their own gain.”

Attorneys presented evidence showing that Reger and Lytle committed their crimes over a 10-year period while working for Epsilon, which is headquartered in Irving, Texas. Its main sales office is located in Westminster, Colorado.

Authorities said the two used transactional data collected from marketing clients to predict new “responsive buyers” using computer algorithms and a database of 100 million U.S. households to predict and sell these listings to consumers. more likely to respond to fraudulent schemes. Elderly and vulnerable people were targeted by this program. Victims received fraudulent letters promising big prizes or wealth.

“Far too often, we prosecute cases where criminals prey on elderly and vulnerable people,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Matt Kirsch for the District of Colorado. “This sentence demonstrates that those who exploit the most vulnerable in our society for financial gain are prosecuted and held accountable for their despicable actions. »

According to Epilson data, many victims have been defrauded multiple times by this scheme. More than 12,000 victims were scammed more than 20 times each.

Epsilon has paid $150 million in fines, including $127.5 million in victim compensation as part of a deferred prosecution agreement in 2021. So far, the victim compensation effort has returned $122 million to more than 200,000 victims of the fraud scheme.