Court sentences man who impersonated American model, adult actress to 1 year imprisonment

 

 

ARINZE NWAFOR

 

An Ikeja Special Offences Court has, on Tuesday, sentenced a man who posed as an American model and adult actress online to one-year imprisonment with the option of paying an N100,000 fine.

 

Justice Rahman Oshodi found Emmanuel Oluwapelumi, guilty of an amended one-count charge of possessing fraudulent documents brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

Oluwapelumi pleaded guilty to the crime following a plea bargain he entered into with the prosecution.

 

The counsel to the EFCC, Fanan Anum, urged the judge to convict Oluwapelumi and sentence him according to the Laws of Lagos state following his guilty plea.

 

Oshodi ruled that he was, “satisfied that the defendant’s statement of confession (Exhibit B) is enough to convict the defendant.”

 

The judge initially sentenced the convict to two years imprisonment according to Section 318 of Criminal Laws of Lagos state but reduced the sentence by half and gave the defendant an option of the payment of a N100,000 fine to the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

 

The judge had earlier asked the convict why he would not sentence him to the full extent of the law, and the convict said, “I have left the bad life behind.”

 

The defence counsel, Esther Toriola-Aderibole, also urged the court to give her client a reduced sentence by way of allocutus.

 

Toriola-Aderibole said, “He is a first-time offender, remorseful and did not waste the time of the court.”

 

Oshodi held that the convict was indeed a first-time offender and that he was remorseful.

 

The judge said he would reduce the sentence of the convict because of his early guilty plea which saved the time of the court.

 

The judge held that the convict was arrested in a sting operation conducted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 15, 2023.

 

He held that the EFCC recovered an iPhone 12 Pro Max from the defendant which contained fraudulent documents.

 

Oshodi said that the Commission discovered that the convict was impersonating an American model and adult actress on social media to defraud the public.

 

Oshodi said, “Upon forensic inquiry into the phone, the EFCC discovered that Oluwapelumi operated a Google mail account that was made with the identity of an American model and adult actress with which he defrauded people to the tune of $200.”

 

Oshodi held that the convict admitted to the charge of the EFCC of engaging in a dating scam and also detailed his modus operandi in a statement that he tendered under caution.

 

The judge said the defendant forfeited his iPhone 12 Pro Max and paid N200,000 to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

The judge held that the convict was a former student of Gateway Polytechnic, Ogun state, and had done his National Youth Service in Lagos State.