U.S. Attorney Susan T. Lehr announced that 36-year-old Nigerian national Edwin Okoronkwo has been sentenced to 75 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher on January 29, 2025, was detailed in a press statement from the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday, February 6.
“There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Okoronkwo will be placed on a 3-year term of supervised release and will be deported by immigration authorities,” the press statement read.
In addition to his prison sentence, Edwin Okoronkwo was ordered to pay $342,535 in restitution to seven victims.
Okoronkwo, a lawful U.S. permanent resident, and his wife, Julie Okoronkwo, operated an online “catfishing” scheme from Nebraska, deceiving victims into sending money by assuming fake social media identities. They often pretended to be high-ranking U.S. military officials on overseas missions.
Victims sent funds through USPS, FedEx, and UPS. The Okoronkwos also used stolen personal information to open fraudulent financial accounts, including PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, and Cash App, directing victims to transfer money to these accounts.
The stolen funds were then moved to their bank accounts, cryptocurrency platforms, or sent abroad to Nigeria via wire transfers.
Julie Okoronkwo played a key role in contacting victims and also stole identification details from her workplace, a hospital, to further the scam.
She was sentenced to 25 months in prison on January 10, 2025.
U.S. District Judge Buescher condemned the crimes as a “tragedy for the victims.”
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case.
