We can
remember when this story first broke out, some people close to this pastor
claimed that he was being blackmailed and that he would be vindicated in court.
But sadly, the truth is out.
Pastor
Ifeanyichukwu Eric Abakporo, a cleric with a respected Nigerian church, Deeper
Life Bible Church, is to
spend the next years of his life in prison in the
United States of America after he was convicted of fraud.
Pastor
Abakporo was accused and found guilty of defrauding banks, mortgage lenders,
property owners, and a set of property buyers. The sentenced was delivered by a
Federal Court in New York.
Pastor
Abakporo was immediately remanded into custody by the presiding U.S. District
Court, Judge Shira A. Scheindlin. His wife and two children wept openly in the
courtroom as he was being led away to prison in handcuffs...
In addition
to the six-year mandatory sentence, Pastor Abakporo will more than likely face
deportation back to Nigeria after serving his sentence, with the likelihood of
a three-year supervisory probation release waved.
His
co-defendant, Latanya Pierce, received a lighter, 30-month sentence. In her
closing statement to the court, Ms Latanya Pierce said she felt like the
“biggest fool in the world.”
The legal
fate of Abakporo and Ms Pierce was never in doubt. They were convicted in a
wide-ranging series of illegal transactions in New York City over a nine-year
stretch, dating back to 2003.
This is what
happens when a pastor who should be saving souls decide to get himself involved
in "deals".
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