Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District of Georgia Press Release:

ATLANTA – Octaveon Woods has been sentenced after pleading guilty to defrauding colleges, music festivals organizers, and others by claiming that he was a booking agent for famous musicians such as Migos, Lil Yachty, and Post Malone. Woods continued to operate the scheme even after he pleaded guilty in this case.

“Woods convinced dozens of victims to pay him almost a million dollars to ‘book’ artists for concerts and festivals, when he had no relationship with the artists at all,” said U. S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “Woods will now face the consequences of his actions and his victims will receive a measure of justice.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: Woods owned and operated several companies, including Global Talent Agency, GTA Bookings, and National Artist Agency, that claimed to be booking agencies in the entertainment industry. Woods advertised that these agencies represented dozens of famous musicians, comedians and other artists, including hip-hop and rap artists Migos, Lil Yachty, and Post Malone.

Student groups at Emory University, the University of Missouri, and victims overseas hired Woods’s fake companies to book artists for concerts and festivals. In reality, Woods had no relationship with the artists. After his victims wired him money to book the concerts, Woods transferred the funds to other accounts and then made cash withdrawals. Hours after he pleaded guilty in April 2018, Woods continued to lure more victims into transferring him money for concerts that were never going to happen.

Octaveon Woods, 27, of Decatur, Illinois was sentenced to three years, 10 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on August 10, 2018.  Woods was convicted of the charges on April 16, 2018, after he pleaded guilty.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Inspector General.

Assistant U.S Attorney Lynsey Morris Barron prosecuted the case.