United States v. Tully Lovisa et al.

United States v. Tully Lovisa, Shaun Sullivan, and Lorraine Chalavoutis

18-CR-349

An indictment charges Tully Lovisa, 55, of Huntington Station, New York; Shaun Sullivan, 37, of Merrick, New York; and Lorraine Chalavoutis, 61, of Greenlawn, New York, with mail fraud, money laundering, and conspiring to commit those offenses.  The indictment also charges Lovisa with perjury and additional wire fraud and money laundering offenses.   The defendants’ prize-promotion mailings led recipients, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, to believe that they could claim a large cash prize in exchange for a modest fee, according to the indictment.  This was false; victims who submitted fees did not receive large sums of money, the indictment alleges. 

View a list of mailing names associated with the scheme.

The scheme alleged in the indictment began after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Lovisa in 2010 for sending deceptive prize-promotion mailings.  In response to that suit, a court enjoined Lovisa from any involvement with prize-promotion mailings.  But, as alleged in the indictment, Lovisa did not stop.  Rather, the indictment alleges that he worked with Sullivan and Chalavoutis to set up numerous prize-promotion companies using straw owners and aliases to continue defrauding hundreds of thousands of consumers.  Chalavoutis, who provided various important operational services, allegedly helped conceal Lovisa’s and Sullivan’s control of the operation and misled others about the nature of the business.

All three defendants charged in the indictment have entered guilty pleas. Tully Lovisa pleaded guilty on October 12, 2018 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and to wire fraud. Shaun Sullivan pleaded guilty on May 14, 2019 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.  Lorraine Chalavoutis pleaded guilty on July 12, 2021 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Lorraine Chalavoutis was sentenced by the Court on January 5, 2023 to a term of imprisonment of 6 months.   Once released from prison she will be on Supervised Release for a term of 3 years.  

Two additional defendants were charged in connection with the scheme. Richard Winters pleaded guilty on September 4, 2018 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.  Steven McClenahan pleaded guilty on July 26, 2019 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.  

Richard Winters was sentenced by the Court on May 16, 2023.   The Court ordered Time Served as Richard Winters’ sentence.
Steven McClenahan was sentenced by the Court on February 9, 2023 to Probation for a term of 5 years.
 

Scheduled Court Hearing

• Sentencing as to Lorraine Chalavoutis, August 2, 2022, 3:00 p.m.
• Sentencing as to Steven McClenahan, September 9, 2022, 10:30 a.m..
• Sentencing as to Tully Lovisa:  July 26, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. before the Honorable Joanna Seybert, 
• Sentencing as to Shaun Sullivan: November 16, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. before the Honorable Joanna Seybert 
   

United States District Court

Eastern District of New York

Long Island Courthouse

100 Federal Plaza, Room 1030

Central Islip, NY 11722

Court documents

• Indictment as to Lovisa, Sullivan, and Chalavoutis (7/10/18)
  
   
• Superseding Indictment as to Chalavoutis (7/23/19)
  
   
• Information as to Winters (9/4/18)
  
   
• Information as to McClenahan (7/26/19)

If you are a victim of the offense being charged in this case, you may contact the Victim-Witness Coordinator in the Eastern District of New York to help you exercise your rights.
 

For information or assistance, please contact:

Lisa Foster
718-254-6256

List of mailing names associated with the scheme: