MANOR, Texas — A federal jury in Austin convicted a man Tuesday in what agents described as an elaborate scheme to defraud victims, including a well-known developer of millions, by making them believe that violent Mexican cartels planned to kill them or loved ones.
The KVUE Defenders in February told the story of 52-year-old Saint Jovite Youngblood, who court documents said made victims believe that he worked as a covert federal agent and had access to information about danger facing the victims.
The jury convicted Youngblood of four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
He awaits a court date to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman. He is facing up to 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud and up to 10 years for the money laundering count.
According to federal indictments, Youngblood falsely claimed to have been part of the U.S. Army’s Delta Force special operations unit and offered protection to victims from the cartels in exchange for money. Instead, Youngblood used most of the money on junkets to Las Vegas to gamble at posh casinos.
His victims included Eric Perardi, developer of the Cross Over in Cedar Park, who told KVUE that he gave Youngblood, who he met through their children’s sports league, about $900,000 because he thought his family could be killed by the cartel.
Perardi reported Youngblood to the FBI after learning much of what Youngblood told him was false.
“Justice was served,” Perardi said. “The FBI and the U.S. attorney believed us, put together a case really quickly, and though none of us can ever get our lives back, knowing that he can’t do this to other victims is a huge weight lifted.”