Saint Jovite Youngblood, 52, was convicted in April by a federal jury in Texas of four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to the Justice Department. He will spend 40 years in prison after falsely claiming service in the Army’s Delta Force. (Joshua Jospeh Magbanu/U.S. Air Force)
AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas man will spend 40 years in prison after falsely claiming service in the Army’s elite Delta Force as part of a scheme to convince his victims to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars in return for protecting their children from being abducted by Mexican drug cartels.
Saint Jovite Youngblood, aka Kota Youngblood, 52, was convicted in April by a federal jury in Austin of four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to the Justice Department. He defrauded 32 victims for more than $12 million, which he spent on trips to gamble in Las Vegas.
In addition to the prison sentence, Youngblood was ordered to pay full restitution.
“This fraudster developed close relationships with dozens of individuals, building an immense amount of trust seemingly just to destroy their lives financially through elaborate, deceitful misrepresentations,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.
Youngblood told the people, who are not named in court documents, that he was able to provide protection for them against drug cartels because of his past military experience and the contacts he had within the National Security Agency. He also claimed he “freelanced for the Department of Defense” to solve problems throughout the country.
Youngblood, who lived in Manor, a town about 15 miles northeast of Austin, claimed to have served 22 years in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and Delta Force, which is primarily devoted to counterterrorism operations, such as capturing and killing a high-value target, breaking up terrorist cells or conducting hostage rescues.
Yet FBI investigators found no military service records for him.
With one of Youngblood’s victims, he would post negative reviews online that claimed criminal behavior about the victim’s businesses. Youngblood told the victim that it was the cartel’s way of threatening him and payments would make the online harassment stop.
Youngblood had his victims pay with checks through a business associate he described as an antique dealer who commonly deposited large checks, according to court records. The payments to protect their families would double as business investments and give returns, Youngblood told them.
“Many of Youngblood’s victims were terrorized thinking their families were in danger, others lost their livelihoods to his schemes,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp for the FBI’s San Antonio Field Office.
