A U.S. Special Forces soldier waits for nightfall to start an operation in Laghman province, Afghanistan, in 2016. A Texas man who the Justice Department says claimed to be a Delta Force operator and offered protection against drug cartels is charged with wire fraud. (Connor Mendez/U.S. Army)
A Texas man is facing wire fraud charges stemming from his claims to be a member of the Army’s elite Delta Force and offers of protection from Mexican drug cartels, according to federal authorities.
Saint Jovite Youngblood, 51, is accused of conning victims out of an unspecified amount of money, a Justice Department statement issued Tuesday said.
A federal grand jury in Austin indicted Youngblood on Tuesday, charging him with two counts of wire fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.
Army officials did not immediately respond Wednesday to a Stars and Stripes question about whether Youngblood has any military experience.
The suburban Austin resident, who is also known as Kota Youngblood, told people that cartel members were planning to commit violence against them, prosecutors said in the statement.
He then passed himself off as a Delta Force operator who would ensure their safety in exchange for money, according to the statement, which said Youngblood also promised significant returns on the payments.
But he instead “used most of the money on junkets to Las Vegas to gamble in casinos,” the Justice Department said.
Each of the wire fraud charges carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, while the illicit monetary transaction charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Youngblood appears to have a well-established track record of spinning such yarns. According to a May 20, 2011, article in the San Bernardino, Calif., newspaper The Sun, a 39-year-old with his name was jailed on suspicion of defrauding a local coin dealer out of more than $90,000 in gold coins.
He earned victims’ trust by claiming to be a Purple Heart recipient or a Navy SEAL, among other things, the paper reported.
“Sheriff’s officials say all of these stories are false,” it added.
Youngblood “has at least 13 aliases” and “an affinity for high-stakes gambling,” the report said, citing San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators.
Youngblood is being held pending trial on the Texas charges, and the FBI investigation in the case remains open, the DOJ said in the statement.
Established in the late 1970s, the Army’s Delta Force, officially known as the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, is a highly secretive special operations unit within Joint Special Operations Command.
Its members participate in a range of counterterrorism and unconventional warfare roles, including hostage rescue, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
riedel.alexander@stripes.com Twitter: @lexRiedel
