US Appeal Court Dismisses Hushpuppi’s Petition To Review 11-Year Prison Sentence

The efforts of the convicted internet fraud kingpin, Ramon Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi, to reduce his 11-year sentence has met a brick wall as the Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit in Los Angeles, United States has dismissed his application.

Abbas’s had appealed to the court for a review and ostensibly reduce his 11-year sentence, citing his sterling behaviour during his stay in jail.

Abbas had 2022 convicted for money laundering and a series of online scams in tens of millions of dollars.

However, after reappraising his chances of success, according to Peoples Gazette, he raised the motion to appeal the sentence. The motion was filed in November 2022, two weeks after Judge Otis Wright sent him to jail.

The convict had enrolled in prison educational courses and also taken an active role in cleaning prison facilities, becoming one of the correctional facility’s top toilet cleaners, in a bid to earn a lighter sentence.

Still, the appellate judges remained implacable in their decision to deny his appeal.

The judgment was made on January 19. It was announced by Molly Dwyer, the court’s clerk, on behalf of the appellate judges.

It was not immediately clear whether he would file a fresh case to keep the hopes of his early release alive since his lawyers, John Iweanoge and Louis Shapiro, had already pulled out prior to the dismissal.

The denial for sentence appeal came days before Nigerians were dismayed by a viral video that seemingly showed someone believed to be Mr Abbas holding a feast with others inside what was reported as his detention facility at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

SaharaReporters reported on Jan. 15, that Olalekan Jacob Ponle popularly known as Mr. Woodberry, has asked the United States Court of Appeals to reduce his eight-year jail term on the grounds that the sentence was wrongly calculated.

SaharaReporters reported on April 13, 2023 that Mr Woodberry, an internet fraudster and an ally of the convicted internet fraud kingpin, Ramon Abbas popularly known as Hushpuppi, has pleaded guilty to count one of the eight counts brought against him in the US.

He further agreed to surrender $8 million in proceeds of wire fraud as well as luxury cars and watches to the foreign government.

Woodberry earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges in which he was accused of engaging in a fraudulent scheme known as Business Email Compromise (BEC).

He was arrested in Dubai on June 10, 2020, alongside Ramon “Hushpuppi” Abbas, who is currently serving an 11-year jail term in the US for fraud.

He was subsequently, convicted in July, 2023 for scamming individuals and businesses of millions of dollars.