Jamaican man pleads guilty to romance scam targeting elderly Arizona woman

A Jamaican man recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud in connection with a romance scam that targeted an elderly Arizona woman, authorities announced Wednesday.

Sherwayne Benjamin Bellinfantie, aka “Ice Man,” was indicted in March 2022 before being extradited to the U.S. in June 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

In a plea agreement, Bellinfantie admitted that he and co-conspirators targeted an 85-year-old resident of Vail from December 2015 to January 2019 in a romance and sweepstakes scheme. Vail is a Pima County community southeast of Tucson.

More details on the romance scam guilty plea

Prosecutors said that Bellinfantie and a co-conspirator pretended to be romantically involved with the victim to lure her into the scheme.

The co-conspirator sent flowers with love messages to the woman’s home to further the scheme.

Additionally, the duo told the woman that she had won the lottery and a new vehicle but needed to pay fees and taxes to claim the winnings. They proceeded to instruct her to mail money to different locations around the country as well as transfer some to money runners.

According to prosecutors, Bellinfantie admitted to receiving part of the money that was obtained through the scheme. He agreed to pay the $469,302 that the victim lost in restitution.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 18.

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