IOLA, Grimes County — A man from Iola has pled guilty in federal court for being behind a fake raffle for a limited edition sports car, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas.
Marcos Trevino, 48, admitted that he was behind a scam raffle that offered a limited edition Dodge Challenger SRT Demon from 2018 to 2022. He promoted the scam through social media, various websites, and at auto shows, according to the release.
A winner was never drawn from the raffle, and the only way to purchase an entry was to buy a koozie costing $105. Trevino didn't even deliver the koozies to those who had purchased tickets in the four years the raffle had been up. There was also a mention of a money back guarantee on the scam's website, but no method for a participant to get their money back.
At the time of Trevino's arrest, the grand prize Dodge Demon was in his possession. The Grimes County man also had sold 765 tickets for the raffle, totaling $80,325 in scam profits.
The District Attorney's Office says raffles like the one that Trevino was behind are illegal because of a number of factors, including:
- A charitable organization was not backing it
- No date was set for the grand prize drawing
- An ending date for when the raffle would close was not set
- The proceeds from the raffle weren't "spent on a lawful purpose"
- Promotion of the raffle was done through interstate and statewide advertising
Trevino will be sentenced for his crimes on Dec. 7, and faces up to five years in federal prison as well as a $250,000 max fine. There is a possibility he could be ordered to forfeit and return his earnings from the raffle to the participants as restitution.
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