For years, his name circulated through Jamaica’s underground scamming culture almost like folklore.

He was referenced in dancehall songs, spoken about in hushed conversations among fraudsters and celebrated in a growing subculture that turned internet scams into a symbol of wealth and social mobility.

Now, the man at the center of that mythology is headed to federal prison.

Troy Murray, a 57-year-old North Carolina resident who admitted supplying personal information belonging to millions of Americans to Jamaican lottery scammers, has been sentenced to nearly 11 years behind bars by a United States federal court.

According to prosecutors, Murray provided the identity information of approximately seven million U.S. citizens, helping fuel fraud operations that targeted vulnerable victims across the United States. Authorities described him as a critical link in a criminal pipeline that stretched from American data sources to organized scamming networks operating in Jamaica.

But long before his sentencing, Murray had already achieved a different kind of notoriety.

In Jamaica’s dancehall culture, where references to “chopping” — the local term for online fraud — have periodically surfaced in music, Murray became a recognizable figure through lyrics that alluded to his alleged role in supplying valuable personal data, commonly referred to by scammers as “leads.”

One of the most prominent references came from dancehall star Valiant, whose chart-topping songs frequently contained coded references to Jamaica’s scamming culture.

In the song Speed Off, Valiant raps:

“Steve just send me di leads,
Ten mil’ a day a di least…”

Federal prosecutors later identified “Steve” as a reference to Steve Dixon, an alias used by Murray.

The lyric ultimately became significant enough to be mentioned during court proceedings, illustrating how deeply Murray’s reputation had penetrated a culture that often romanticized the proceeds of fraud while overlooking its victims.

For years, “Steve” represented more than an individual. He symbolized access — access to information, access to money and access to a criminal ecosystem that transformed stolen identities into illicit profits.

The case also highlights the increasingly international nature of fraud operations. While many lottery scam prosecutions have focused on Jamaican-based perpetrators, authorities say the schemes often depended on collaborators abroad who supplied sensitive information, financial infrastructure or logistical support.

Murray’s guilty plea offered a rare glimpse into that broader network.

Federal investigators argued that without the steady flow of personal data, many of the scams would have been significantly harder to execute. The information allegedly enabled fraudsters to target potential victims, impersonate legitimate institutions and carry out schemes that generated millions of dollars in illicit proceeds.

His sentencing marks one of the most significant penalties imposed on an individual linked to supplying personal data to Jamaican fraud networks.

It also closes a chapter on a figure whose influence extended far beyond the courtroom — reaching into music, popular culture and the mythology surrounding Jamaica’s scamming economy.

For prosecutors, however, the case was never about mythology.

It was about millions of stolen identities, countless victims and a criminal enterprise that depended on the flow of personal information from the United States to fraudsters operating thousands of miles away.