80-Year-Old Pleads Guilty in Brooksville Lottery Scheme

An 80-year-old Brooksville woman pleaded guilty earlier this month to organized fraud and illegal structuring of financial transactions. Doris Siegel admitted to scamming elderly friends and neighbors of more than $1 million in a lottery scheme.

Siegel and her criminal defense attorney were able to negotiate a plea agreement with prosecutors. She agreed to plead guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in Florida state prison followed by five years of probation. Siegel gets credit for about six months she has already served.

Siegel was also ordered to pay restitution to the scheme’s victims. Authorities have not be able to locate any funds thus far however.

Back in 2004, Siegel apparently was victimized herself by one of the ubiquitous Nigerian Internet lottery scams. After police told her that the correspondence was not legitimate, she purportedly began running similar deceits.

Inside her home, law enforcement found paperwork detailing how to operate a lottery scam. Police alleged that Siegel approached several victims from January 2008 through April 2010. She asked them for money, claiming she had won a lottery in Holland. Several of the victims were Siegel’s neighbors in Brooksville. As part of her probation, Siegel is prohibited from returning to her old neighborhood.

Over two years, Siegel apparently transferred nearly $1.1 million.

Brooksville businessman Martin “Dan” Patrick was arrested earlier this year on related charges of forgery and illegal structuring of financial transactions. Authorities claim that Patrick and Siegel had agreed to split proceeds from the lottery deal. The charges were eventually dismissed because they were filed after the expiration of a three-year statute of limitations.