Man Found Guilty of Stealing $195K from Elderly Arlington Resident to be Sentenced Today

A Kansas man $195,000 from an elderly victim in Arlington through a foreign telephone lottery scam is scheduled to be sentenced later this Monday.

Darrell L. Kinney, 55, of Iola, Kansas, was found guilty on Nov. 28 by Middlesex Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman on one count of larceny over $250 from a person over 60. Judge Tuttman will sentence Kinney at 2 p.m.

Authorities say that Kinney deceived his victim into thinking she had won the lottery. In a statement, District Attorney Gerry Leone warned residents to never send money to anyone that residents don't know. 

Those who believe they fell victim to a similar scam are encouraged to contact the , Leone added.

According to authorities, between Feb. and June 2009, the elderly Arlington victim was called and told that she had won a lottery in Jamaica. The defendant then told the victim that, in order to claim the winnings, she had to pay the taxes on the prize money. In this case, the victim sent multiple checks and cash totaling approximately $195,000 to an address in Kansas.

, working with Kansas authorities, were able to effectively trace the telephone number used to contact the victim, as well as the Kansas shipping address, to this defendant. Kinney was in custody in Kansas on an unrelated matter and, upon posting bail, was placed under arrest July 2009 for the Massachusetts warrant.

—The above story contains information provided by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office.