Audio By Carbonatix
Popular South Florida influencer Scott Lee Huss seems like a shining example of why Miami might never shed its rep as the con artist capital of the world.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Huss, 28 — who portrays himself on social media as an artist, musician, visionary, and entrepreneur — to 27 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud. Huss’ white-collar crime spree began when he lied on an application for $609,000 in COVID relief funding and ended with him impersonating a foreign diplomat and kiting bogus checks to pay for a Lamborghini Urus.
“Pandemic relief programs were designed to help struggling businesses and families — not to fund luxury lifestyles,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “Those who exploited these programs for their personal gain stole from the American people.”
Known to his 3.2 Instagram followers as @jryako, Huss appears not to have posted since February 15, two weeks before a federal grand jury indicted him. Before that, however, he showed off photos of himself in various locations around the world clad in fancy duds, flashy jewelry, and often in close proximity to other symbols of wealth. (He also went by @scottyhuss on Instagram, as well as on TikTok and YouTube.)
When news happens, Miami New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If Miami New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
Court documents suggest that the picture was, at least in part, built on deception.
Huss applied for and received six loans from the Small Business Administration through his companies Apex Marketing Inc., based in a Biscayne Boulevard apartment; Leadecom, based where his dad lives in Port Charlotte (on the Gulf Coast north of Fort Myers); Supreme Sociedad Anonima LLC, also based in a Miami apartment; and Temple of Tao Inc., also based in Port Charlotte.
Instead of using the funds to build his company, through business expenses, or employee payroll, he bought cryptocurrency and luxury automobiles.
In September 2021, for example, Huss bought a 2019 Lamborghini Urus SUV for about $148,000, obtaining financing from a Boston-area company to cover about $120,000 of the cost. In 2023, he mailed fictitious payment vouchers, purporting to be checks, to cover the Lambo loan and another on a Mercedes-Benz, whose model the federal charging documents don’t describe.
Huss’ creativity extended to passing himself off as a foreign diplomat. WSVN 7News reported that Sunny Isles Beach police pulled over his girlfriend earlier this year after she ignored traffic signs in a crash-prone area. Both she and Huss, who was a passenger in the car, unsuccessfully attempted to claim sovereign immunity, pointing to diplomat license plates.
As with other aspects of Huss’ life, law enforcement officials found that those credentials, too, were fabricated.
