A Kansas man who is alleged to have stolen nearly $100,000 from an elderly victim in Arlington through a foreign telephone lottery scam was ordered held without bail at his arraignment today, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone and Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan reported.

Darrell L. Kinney of Kansas was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on a charge of felony larceny by scheme and larceny over $250. Judge Roanne Sragow ordered Kinney held without bail, according to an Aug. 21 news release from Leon's office.

Arlington Officer Rebecca Gallagher wrote in an e-mail Aug. 21 that Kinney arrived as scheduled at Logan Aug. 20 "with no issues." She said he pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail until the next court date.

The Aug. 22 Boston Globe reported that the victim of Kinney, 53, was Priscilla Saltmarsh, 84, of Arlington. The Globe reported that Kinney, who is believed to be the leader of a crime network with operatives in Jamaica, first called Saltmarsh in February to tell her she had a won a $4.5 million prize in Jamaica. In order to claim her prize, police say, he told Saltmarsh she needed to first pay taxes on it.

"For five months," the Globe reported, "Kinney repeatedly called Saltmarsh to tell her she needed to send more money to collect the prize.

"Saltmarsh sent money to an address in Jamaica, and later to addresses in Kansas and Maryland, until all the money from her bank account was depleted, the report states. Saltmarsh then notified police."

In this case, the victim sent multiple checks totaling approximately $93,000 to an address in Kansas.

Leone, Ryan, and other area police chiefs had issued a public advisory that warned residents of the lottery scam in November and continued to investigate the matter since that time.

Arlington police, working with Kansas authorities, were able to effectively trace the telephone number used to contact the victim, as well as the Kansas shipping address, to this defendant. The defendant was in custody in Kansas on an unrelated matter and, upon posting bail, was placed under arrest on July 13 for the Massachusetts warrant. The defendant was returned to Massachusetts by Arlington police yesterday for his arraignment.

The investigation continues into whether there were other victims of this scheme.

Leone and Ryan continue to warn residents, particularly seniors, about the dangers of these telephone lottery scams. Typically, the lottery scam is conducted by a third party who contacts a victim by phone and convinces the victim that they have won a lottery. The party than tells the victim that before they can claim their winnings, they must first pay taxes on the prize money, which is usually in the tens of thousands of dollars. After the victim mails the check, the subject informs the resident they should wait until a fictitious date, when the supposed “winnings” will be awarded. The winnings are never sent.

"We continue to warn people never to send money to anyone who has contacted you that you do not know, especially when that person has a foreign address,” District Attorney Leone said. “If you believe that you have been a victim of this or a similar scam, we urge you to contact your local police department."

If you have been contacted by someone who has told you that you have won a foreign lottery, please contact your local police department immediately. Also, if you recognize that you have been contacted by the following phone numbers, please report this to your local police:

1-876-397-5452

1-876-894-3554

1-876-486-2159

1- 620-365-8465

These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The prosecutors assigned to this case are Assistant District Attorney and Chief of the Elder Protection Unit Marian Ryan and Assistant District Attorney Elisha Willis. The case was investigated by Arlington police.

This story was first published Friday, Aug. 21, at 11:35 a.m.