*26-year-old pleads guilty to one count of unlawful fraudulent immigration documents and one count of wire fraud
*Admitted to using counterfeit academic transcripts, recommendations, a resume, and a report about English language proficiency to get a student visa
*Used fake papers to acquire admission into chemistry PhD program, got $49,000 in stipends and a tuition waiver
*Opened bank account with an invalid visa to get a driver’s license
*BY TINUADE ADEBAYO/American Foreign Correspondent, NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER Inc USA
END of the road has come full circle for a 26-year-old Nigerian, Mercy Ojedeji who used forged documentation to obtain immigration benefits which resulted in a United Student’s F1 visa at the University of Missouri. She is to face deportation by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, after her jail term of 3years and 6 months.
This Nigerian man bearing a lady’s name was sentenced to prison for lying to get a student visa to attend the University of Missouri.
Mercy pleads guilty in April to one count of unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents and one count of wire fraud.
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced him to 41 months in prison.
Ojedeji admitted to using counterfeit academic transcripts, recommendations, a resume, and a report about his English language proficiency to get a student visa from MU.
He also used them to get admission to the chemistry PhD program in the fall of 2023.
Ojedeji also got $49,000 in stipends and a tuition waiver.
After failing to attend class, Ojedeji was kicked out of the graduate program in January 2024 and lost his student visa.
In February 2024, Ojedeji used his now-invalid visa to get a driver’s license, which he used to open a bank account.
Ojedeji was also accused of using the bank account as part of a money mule scam with his girlfriend.
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