A federal judge in the United States has sentenced Jacob Olalekan Ponle, popularly known as Woodberry, to eight years and three months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar fraud.
Woodberry was sentenced on Tuesday by Judge Robert Gettleman of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.
“The defendant is hereby committed to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a total term of 100 months as to count,” Gettleman said.
Ponle was sentenced after being convicted on one count of fraud. Seven other counts were dismissed following a plea bargain in April.
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According to Gettleman’s ruling, Ponle was to submit himself to the US Marshal Service for onward transfer to the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, where his family members, especially his American fiancée, would be allowed to visit him.
He will also be “surrendered to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody for deportation immediately following his incarceration”, the judge said.
The Nigerian-born fraudster will pay seven victims about $8 million in restitution, with the court finding that he has the capacity to make the full payment but waived all interests on the restitution value.
American prosecutors had on June 29 asked the judge to jail Woodberry for 14 years for the fraud he committed between January and September 2019.
The prosecutors also sought court permission to sell the fraudster’s 152 bitcoins, but only after a 30 days’ notice had been issued to the public for anyone with interest in the assets to file claims. No one with legitimate interest appeared to have surfaced as of the time of Woodberry’s sentencing.
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The prosecutors also recommended that Woodberry, known for displaying his flamboyant lifestyle on social media, forfeit items in the Dubai police custody, such as one Rolls Royce, Lamborghini Urus, Mercedes-Benz G-Class AMG G55, four Rolex watches, one Patek Philippe watch, and three Audemars Piguet watches.
Also, he is to forfeit three gold and diamond-studded rings, five gold bracelets and two gold bracelet keys, six gold neck chains, one gold and diamond-studded necklace, one small gold nugget, two bank cards, about $1,835 in Emirati dirhams, and approximately $15.45 in South African rands.
Woodberry was apprehended on June 10, 2020, alongside Ramon ‘Hushpuppi’ Abbas, who was jailed late last year for 11 years in the US for internet fraud.
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