Columbia County Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Crypto Mining Computer Scheme

Steven Drawdy, 40, of Grovetown, Georgia, has been sentenced to 32 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud in a scheme involving the sale of expensive computer equipment. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, Jill E. Steinberg, announced the sentence. U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall also ordered Drawdy to pay over $1.1 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Drawdy’s scheme, which took place from August 2021 through April 2022, involved defrauding over 40 customers by promising to deliver cryptocurrency “mining” computers. Instead of providing the equipment, Drawdy pocketed the payments and eventually stopped communicating with the customers. In some instances, he offered partial refunds but required customers to pay a “processing fee,” after which he neither delivered the refund nor the computers.

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

FBI Atlanta Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Ozden added, “While using the latest in technology as his hook to attack victims, Drawdy’s actions were nothing more than old-fashioned fraud. The FBI will continue to go after criminals doing any type of fraud and seek to hold them accountable.”

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer A. Stanley.