Woodberry, also known as Olalekan Ponle, has been sentenced to eight years and three months in prison by a United States federal court for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar scam. He was found guilty of widespread global internet fraud, along with his ally, Hushpuppi, who is better known as Ramon Abbas.
On July 11, Judge Robert Gettleman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago declared the sentence. The court documents reveal that Woodberry, a Nigerian national, will serve a total term of 100 months for one count of fraud, as part of a plea agreement where seven additional charges were dropped.
Despite having the means to repay the full amount, Woodberry will be making restitution payments close to $8 million to seven victims. The court waived all interest on the restitution amount. American prosecutors had initially requested a 14-year jail sentence for Woodberry, who committed the fraud between January and September 2019.
The prosecution also sought permission to sell Woodberry’s 152 bitcoins, with a 30-day notice for potential claimants to come forward. However, no legitimate stakeholder had emerged at the time of his sentencing. In addition, the prosecutors proposed that Woodberry forfeit several luxury items seized by the Dubai police, including a Rolls-Royce, a Lamborghini Urus, a Mercedes-Benz G-Class AMG G55, four Rolex watches, a Patek Philippe watch, and three Audemars Piguet watches.
Woodberry and Hushpuppi were both taken into custody on June 10, 2020, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, before facing legal consequences for their fraudulent activities. Hushpuppi himself was sentenced to 11 years in prison for computer fraud in the United States.