Nigerian court sentences US citizen to 2 years in prison over check-fraud case
By APThursday, May 20, 2010
Nigeria: US citizen gets 2 years in check fraud
LAGOS, Nigeria — A Nigerian federal court has sentenced a U.S. woman to two years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges that she attempted to smuggle counterfeit checks out of the country.
A spokesman for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says 24-year-old Sharon Denis Thorpe of Raleigh, N.C., received 2 years for each of the 13 charges she faced after her Feb. 20 arrest. However, the spokesman says the judge ordered Thorpe serve only a total of 2 years in prison during Wednesday’s hearing after her lawyer argued for leniency.
Thorpe was arrested as she attempted to board a flight to the U.S. en route to Washington D.C. at Lagos’ Murtala Mohammed International Airport. Authorities said Thorpe was carrying more than $760,000 worth of fake checks.
