Suspected jury duty scammers arrested for bilking Sarasota woman out of $12K: DOJ

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Published  January 8, 2025 12:28pm EST
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Two indicted in Sarasota jury duty scam

Evan Axelbank reports.

The Brief

    • 2 indicted and arrested in jury duty scam that cost a Sarasota woman $12,000
    • One of the suspected scammers used a cellphone that had been smuggled into a Georgia state prison, possibly by a drone.
    • Local and federal authorities say they will never call you and demand money for missing jury duty.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Two suspected scammers have been indicted and arrested for what authorities are calling "a brazen scheme perpetrated by an inmate at a state prison with a cellphone." 

According to federal authorities, Anthony Sanders and Marlita Andrews worked together to swindle a Sarasota woman out of $12,000 in a jury duty scam. 

The backstory: According to U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg, the victim received a phone call saying she owed money for missing jury duty. He added that the suspect used the name of a Sarasota County deputy and spoofed the agency's phone number, so it came up on the caller ID as the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. 

The suspect convinced the woman, who did not miss jury duty and did not owe a fine, to stay on the phone until the $12,000 fine was paid. The scammer directed the victim to go to a bonding transition center to pay the fine. However, according to Handberg, the victim was actually sent to a BitCoin ATM at a grocery store. 

Federal authorities said the victim made three deposits at the BitCoin ATM and the money was transferred to Andrews’ cryptocurrency account and then dispersed to other accounts. 
Handberg noted that Andrews worked with Sanders, her boyfriend, to pull off the jury duty scam. He said Sanders was in a Georgia state prison and used a cell phone smuggled into the prison to participate in the scam. 

How was a cellphone smuggled into prison?

Handberg added that investigators are looking into how Sanders got a cellphone inside the prison and said that it may have been smuggled inside using a drone. 

According to Handberg, investigators found text messages from Sanders asking Andrews to purchase cellphones so that another person could drop them into the prison using a drone. 

He said Andrews sent pictures of the phones she bought but does not believe those were the phones Sanders used for the scam. 

What happens now: Both Andrews and Sanders have been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, though authorities believe they scammed other victims. 

Andrews was released on bond and has a GPS monitor on her. Sanders is still in prison. 

If convicted, they face up to 20 years in federal prison. 

More jury duty scam victims

By the numbers: Local and federal authorities say there are more victims out there and added that in one year the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office was notified of at least 30 people who were swindled out of more than $150,000 as part of a jury duty scam.

What to do if you get a jury duty scam call

Federal authorities say no law enforcement agency or court will ever call you and demand money for missing jury duty. 

If you receive a call regarding a jury duty fine, federal authorities recommend hanging up and calling law enforcement. 

If you have been a victim of a jury duty scam, you are asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. 

The Source: This story was written with information from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. 

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