GA man sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to bilking 40+ people in cryptocurrency scheme

An east Georgia man has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell expensive computer equipment to more than 40 people who never received their orders.

Steven Drawdy, 40, of Grovetown, Georgia, was sentenced to 32 months in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud.

He was ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution to his victims and will serve three years of supervised release at the end of his prison term.

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Between August 2021 and April 2022, Drawdy participated in an online cryptocurrency discussion forum and received over $1 million from at least 42 victims who believed they were paying him to receive cryptocurrency “mining” computers.

None of the customers ever received the computers.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Drawdy would pocket the payments and eventually stop communicating with his customers.

Is some cases, he would offer a partial refund but would require they pay a “processing fee” to get the refund, and then would never deliver the refund nor the computer and cut off all communication with the customer.

“Steven Drawdy ripped off dozens of people by preying on their desire to make money in the complex world of cryptocurrency,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “Our law enforcement partners did exceptional work in identifying and shutting down this scheme.”

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