Nigerian athletes, Emmanuel Ineh, 23, and Toluwani Adebakin, 25, may get a maximum of 10 years in prison in the United States.
The US attorney’s office of the southern district of Mississippi, made this known in a statement on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
The duo were convicted by the United States Government for internet fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
According to U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson, the duo transferred thousands of dollars to Nigeria as part of a complex fraud scheme.
The statement partly,“The defendants pleaded guilty to violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957, for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities, collectively sending tens of thousands of illicitly obtained proceeds to fraudsters in Nigeria as part of a larger mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.
The scheme involved Track and Field athletes from multiple higher learning institutions in the United States, with part of the conspiracy being operated out of Hattiesburg while the Ineh and Adebakin were Track and Field teammates at William Carey University.
Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on February 15, 2023 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison.
A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”
Ineh represented Nigeria at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games where he won silver while Adebakin is a 200m and 400m runner.
