Jury convicts four of five men in McDonald's game scam trial

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - Four men were convicted Friday on charges they took part in a multimillion scheme to redeem valuable stolen pieces from popular McDonald&#39;s games such as ``Monopoly&#39;&#39; and ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> A fifth man charged in the case was acquitted. <br> <br> George Chandler, 30, of Walhalla, S.C.; Kevin Whitfield, of Savannah, Ga.; Jerome Pearl, 45, of Miami, and John Henderson, 50, of Las Vegas, were convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in the scam. U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. scheduled sentencing for Jan. 30, 2003. All four men are free until then. <br> <br> The four convicted men face a maximum of five years in prison and fines of $250,000. In addition, the government is seeking restitution of $546,899 from Chandler, $473,167 from Henderson, $755,000 from Pearl, and $50,000 from Whitfield. <br> <br> Thomas Lambert, 56, of Bowling Green, Ohio, was acquitted of same charges. <br> <br> ``My life was ruined when they indicted me,&#39;&#39; said Lambert. <br> <br> The jury deliberated 13 hours over two days before reaching its verdict. At one point Friday, the jury said it had reached some verdicts but was deadlocked on some others. After about four more hours of deliberations they reached a verdict. <br> <br> ``The United States is pleased with the jury&#39;s verdict. It was clear that they considered each defendant individually,&#39;&#39; said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Devereaux, who prosecuted the case. <br> <br> Chandler, although disappointed with his conviction, said he was hopeful the judge would consider motions filed by his attorney for a judgment of acquittal or the case would be overturned on appeal. <br> <br> ``This was a complicated case and I was innocent. I did not know the ticket was embezzled,&#39;&#39; said Chandler, who redeemed a $1 million ticket. <br> <br> Pearl, Whitfield and Henderson declined to comment. <br> <br> ``We are disappointed,&#39;&#39; said Curtis Fallgatter, who represented Chandler. ``It was a confusing difficult trial.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Pearl, whose eyes were red with tears, was visibly shaken. <br> <br> ``His life is over,&#39;&#39; said Joseph Paglino, Pearl&#39;s defense attorney. <br> <br> Defense attorney Martin Hastings, who represented Henderson, had little to say. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re disappointed. What else can I say?&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Jurors refused to comment when they left the courthouse. <br> <br> The men were accused of conspiracy to commit mail fraud for recruiting winners or acting as winners in McDonald&#39;s ``Monopoly&#39;&#39; and ``Who Wants to be a Millionaire&#39;&#39; games from 1989 to 2001. The prizes included prizes as high a $1 million and luxury sports cars. <br> <br> Prosecutors argued that the men were involved in a conspiracy to redeem the game pieces, which were stolen by Jerome Jacobson, director of security for Simon Marketing, which ran the game for the hamburger chain. <br> <br> Defense attorneys argued that their clients were unaware the winning game tickets had been stolen and they should be found innocent. <br> <br> Jacobson, 59, of Lawrenceville, Ga., pleaded guilty to stealing the tickets and testified he took most of the high-value tickets from 1995 to 2001. He faces up to 15 years in prison and $750,000 in fines when he is sentenced in November. He has been ordered to pay more than $13.4 million in restitution. <br> <br> Among Jacobson properties the government will sell to get some of the money back are two in Edgewater Hills, S.C., one valued at $215,000 and the other at $200,000. He also has $60,000 in a bank account in Gwinnett, Ga., $10,000 in a safe deposit box and $2,500 in his home. <br> <br> Jacobson used at least some of the proceeds for good, anonymously sending a $1 million ticket to the St. Jude Children&#39;s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Prosecutors contended the ticket was about to expire and Jacobson could not find anyone to cash it in. McDonald&#39;s agreed to honor the ticket by making $50,000 a year payments for 20 years to the hospital. <br> <br> Since the first arrests last August, 49 people have pleaded guilty for their roles in the 12-year scam and are awaiting sentencing. About two dozen more arrests are expected. <br> <br> Prosecutors said the conspiracy began in 1989 and involved more than $20 million in fraudulently redeemed game pieces. The pieces were attached to McDonald&#39;s drinks and food boxes or obtained through advertising. <br> <br> ``We are extremely pleased with the work of the FBI and the Department of Justice,&#39;&#39; said Lisa Howard, a spokeswoman for McDonald&#39;s in Oakbrook, Ill.