TEXARKANA, Texas (AP):

A Texas woman who says she lost US$80,000 in a lottery scam must serve two years in prison for continuing the ruse and duping others.

The Texarkana Gazette (http://bit.ly/1SZFNEn [1] ) reported yesterday that Sandra Gloria Lockett was sentenced by a federal judge in Texarkana. She must also repay nearly US$188,000.

The 61-year-old Texarkana woman in August pleaded guilty to mail fraud. Lockett was arrested after investigators intercepted a package meant for her containing more than US$44,000 in cash and cheques.

Lockett said she joined the so-called Jamaican lottery scheme, in which victims are urged to pay taxes and fees to get a share of the winnings, to recoup her own losses.

Lockett was sentenced on December 9. Her alleged co-conspirators were not named in court documents in the scam since 2013.