SC inmate gets federal prison sentence for role in extorting military members
A South Carolina inmate who already was in the midst of a long state prison sentence will now also have to serve more than five years in federal prison in connection with a scheme to extort members of the military.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina announced in a Friday news release that Dexter B. Lawrence, 37, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Lawrence was part of a scam run out of state prison using contraband cellphones.
Lawrence is in the midst of a 22-year state prison sentence for 2007 convictions for carjacking and armed robbery, according to S.C. Department of Corrections records. He will have to serve the federal time once his state sentence has ended.
Per the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lawrence “smuggled smartphones into SCDC and used the internet to join internet dating websites. Once on the internet dating websites, Lawrence would target young men who were in the military while posing as a young woman.”
The release said Lawrence would “solicit nude photographs and once the photographs were received, Lawrence, and others, then posed as the father of the young woman, claiming that the young woman was underage, and that the military member was in possession of child pornography.”
Lawrence would then threaten the military members that he would have them arrested or discharged unless they paid money. Authorities say Lawrence and others extorted more than $60,000 from at least 25 victims.
“Contraband cell phones enable inmates to continue their criminal activity behind bars,” U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs said in a statement. “In this case, the defendant used them to prey on victims who have bravely served our nation. Our office is committing to working with SCDC and our law enforcement partners to address the threats posed by smartphones in our prisons.”
