Phony Music Agent Headed To Prison

ATLANTA, GA — An Illinois man is headed to prison after scamming colleges and universities, including Emory University, by claiming to represent top rappers including Atlanta's Migos.

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

But even after his plea, prosecutors say, Woods kept claiming to be a booking agent for acts like Migos, Lil Yachty and Post Malone.

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"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."

Woods owned several companies including Global Talent Agency, GTA Bookings and National Artist Agency, that claimed to be booking agencies in the entertainment industry. He advertised that those agencies represented dozens of musicians, comedians and other artists.

Student groups at Emory University, the University of Missouri and others hired Woods' companies to book the artists for concerts and festivals. In reality, prosecutors say, Woods had no relationship with any of the artists and, as soon as his victims would wire him money to book the concerts, he would transfer the money into other accounts, then withdraw it as cash.

Hours after he pleaded guilty in April, Woods again lured victims into transferring him money for concerts that were never going to happen, federal prosecutors said.

The 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.

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