MADISON, WIS. -- John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Sally Iriri, 33, a Nigerian citizen living in Chicago, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 10 years in federal prison for wire fraud. Iriri pleaded guilty to this charge on September 3, 2015.
From approximately October 2013 to March 2015, Iriri participated in a scheme to defraud victims in the United States and Canada out of more than $2.3 million. Iriri and others targeted victims by creating fake profiles on internet dating services. Once they gained the victims’ trust, Iriri and others involved in the scheme defrauded victims out of money in a variety of ways, including getting victims to pay so called “inheritance taxes” on non-existent inheritances, and getting victims to send money in exchange for checks that turned out to be fraudulent.
In selecting a sentence of 10 years, Judge Peterson said that the sentence was appropriate to “do justice” for the victims, the public, and the defendant. Judge Peterson also noted that the sentence was appropriate in light of the significant financial and emotional impact the scheme had on the vulnerable victims involved.
Iriri’s co-defendant, Michael Adegoke, 33, also a Nigerian citizen, was arrested in Atlanta on November 3, 2015. He appeared in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia and was detained pending his transport to the Western District of Wisconsin. His arraignment date has not yet been scheduled by the court.
You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The charges against Iriri were the result of an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Homeland Secuity Investigations and the Price County Sheriff’s Department, with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and numerous law enforcement agencies in California, Indiana, Arizona, New Jersey, and Iowa. The United States also acknowledges assistance provided in the case by the Price County District Attorney’s Office. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith P. Duchemin.