Multimillion Dollar Fraud: Hushpuppi's Ally, Woodberry, Appeals To U.S. Court To Reduce His Jail Sentence

Olalekan ‘Woodberry’ Jacob Ponle 

 Woodberry, Hushpuppi's ally, petitions a US court to have his eight-year prison sentence reduced

Olalekan Jacob Ponle, also known as Mr. Woodberry, was found guilty in 2023 of defrauding people and companies out of millions of dollars. He has requested a reduction in his eight-year prison sentence from the United States Court of Appeals, arguing that the sentence was incorrectly calculated.

According to U.S. Seventh Circuit court documents, Woodberry claimed he is being wrongfully imprisoned and subjected to severe restitution for both the crimes he actually committed and the ones he planned to commit.

Woodberry intended to defraud people and organizations out of more than $51 million, but he only managed to con people out of about $8 million because some of his victims were quick to notice his tricks and would not give their money to him. Seven of his identified victims demanded the $8 million in restitution from him.

 

American prosecutors used a sentencing guideline that suggested raising Mr. Woodberry's offense level by 22 levels, resulting in a severe punishment for the notorious online scammer who was first apprehended in Dubai in 2020 and then moved to Chicago to face charges. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois' presiding judge, Robert Gettleman, lowered the recommended 14 years in prison to 11 years when it came to sentencing.

See Also: Hushpuppi's Ally, Woodberry, Pleads Guilty To Internet Fraud

The guidelines stipulated that “loss” was defined as “the greater of the actual or intended loss.” In this instance, Mr. Woodberry's eight-year sentence was based on the higher amount of $51 million that the victims would have lost as a result of his email fraud scheme. Prosecutors stated in a brief submitted to the appeals court on January 8 that Woodberry's offense level was increased by 22 levels, carrying a corresponding jail sentence, due to his criminal conduct exceeding $25 million.

But the convict, who was sentenced after his ally, Ramon "Hushpuppl' Abbas was handed 11 years for similar crimes in November 2022, argued “that the district court should use only actual loss, not intended loss, to calculate the proper offence level” and shorten his jail term. He further contended that only seven of the 12 targeted victim companies actually experienced losses, and he begged not to be held accountable for crimes that, although planned, he did not commit.

U.S. prosecutors, in their defence, maintained that the lower court did not err in determining Mr Woodberry's sentence and that the decision was consistent with similar cases decided in the past. They further pointed out that the word “loss” is “genuinely ambiguous” and does not necessarily refer to only “actual loss.”

The prosecutors stressed that Mr Woodberry himself had previously admitted guilt of using the email credentials of more than 10 people to commit frad and was, therefore, deserving of the sentence.

It would be recalled that Woodberry was sentenced on July 11, 2023, to 100 months in prison over a multimillion-dollar frayd scheme and has already forfeited about 152 bitcoins and luxury vehicles and accessories to the U.S. government. He promptly filed an appeal to minimise his punishment, and his plea asking the Seventh Circuit to let him file the case without paying court fees was approved.

He would be deported to Nigeria after serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, where his family members, especially his American fiancée, would be allowed to visit him.