Wire fraud convict, Obinwanne Okeke, widely known as Invictus Obi, has lost the appeal he filed against his years’ imprisonment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal after it was voluntarily withdrawn by the convict.
The 33-year-old Nigerian, who was arrested in the U.S. on August 6, 2019, had pleaded guilty to the offense of conspiracy to commit wire fraud last year June.
U.S. authorities said victims lost nearly $11million to the large-scale fraud perpetrated through global business email and computer hacking schemes between 2015 and 2019.
Mr Okeke, formerly celebrated internationally as a successful young African entrepreneur, was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment by a court in the Eastern District of Virginia on February 16.
It was also reported how the judge, Rebecca Smith, also ordered him to restitute about $10.7million proceeds of his fraud to the U.S. government.
The minutes of the sentencing proceedings indicated that Mr Okeke was notified of his right of appeal, but waived it in his plea agreement with U.S. authorities.
Despite that, the convict filed his notice of appeal against the sentence on Tuesday.
Appeal Dismissed
But Mr Okeke, in a “motion to withdraw appeal” he filed on July 16, said he took the decision to terminate the appeal after consulting with his lawyer “both by phone and email.
He stated in the motion personally signed by him that doing so “is in his best interest”.
The government did not oppose the motion.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal on the same date the motion for its withdrawal was filed by the appellant.
“Upon consideration of the motion to voluntarily dismiss this case pursuant to Rule 42(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and they’re appearing no opposition, the court grants the motion,” a copy of the court order seen by PREMIUM TIMES read.
Mr Okeke will continue serving his sentence at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail, Suffolk, in Virginia.
He had spent 19 months in detention from the time of his arrest in August 2019 till February 16when he was sentenced.
