U.S. v. Sonowo, Criminal Action No. 00-67 GMS (D. Del. 6/4/2002)

• Decision Date: 04 June 2002
• Docket Number: Criminal Action No. 00-67 GMS.
• Citation: U.S. v. Sonowo, Criminal Action No. 00-67 GMS (D. Del. 6/4/2002) (D. Del. 2002)
• Parties: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. HENRY SONOWO, a/k/a Sonowo Babatunde Henry, a/k/a Kareem Bello Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. HENRY SONOWO, a/k/a Sonowo Babatunde Henry, a/k/a Kareem Bello Defendant.

Criminal Action No. 00-67 GMS.

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

June 4, 2002.

Beth Moscow-Schnoll, Assistant United States Attorney, Wilmington, Delaware Attorneys for the Government.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SLEET, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On April 13, 2001, the defendant, Henry Sonowo, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. The court held a sentencing hearing on April 15, 2002.¹ The defendant, who elected to represent himself, made several motions before the sentencing, including a motion for a downward departure, a motion in opposition to the sentence enhancements, a motion to disqualify the judge, and a motion for subsidiary counsel.²³ During the sentencing hearing, the court denied each of the defendant's motions. Additionally, the court sua sponte upwardly departed three levels and determined that sentencing enhancements for the amount of the loss, representing an affiliation with a religious organization, and conduct outside of the United States were appropriate under United States Sentencing Guidelines § 2F1.1. Although the court set forth some of the rationale for its decisions on the record, this memorandum opinion will provide a more thorough explanation of the court's reasoning.⁴⁵

II. FACTS⁶

A. The Defendant's Offense Conduct

The defendant was one of several persons involved in what has been termed a "black money" or "419" scheme. In or around October 1999, a church in Southern Delaware received an unsolicited electronic mail message to help a person identified as DAK raise a fee needed to release millions of dollars which were being held by a third party.⁷ Jeffrey L. Premo, a Delaware resident and an accountant, did some accounting work for the church and was instructed by the pastor to look into the opportunity. The pastor explained that he had contacted the persons involved and that he believed they were Christians who would not take advantage of the church.

Premo was approached by DAK who proposed an investment opportunity. According to DAK, $41,000,000 would be transferred by wire from Nigeria to the United States. DAK also told Premo that the money would be used to further the "Kingdom of God" ministry in America. Premo was eventually convinced to travel to South Africa to open an account to permit the wire transfer. Premo was asked to pay $22,500 for insurance related to the money transfer.

While in South Africa, Premo met with several other persons. One of the persons showed Premo a footlocker that was filled with United States currency. Each "packet" of bills contained $50,000 in $100 bills. One of the persons removed a packet of bills. The money was stamped "CBN" in black ink. Premo was told that CBN stood for Central Bank of Nigeria. He was also told that unless the black stamp was removed, the money could not be negotiated. Those present told Premo that the money could be cleaned only with a special cleaning chemical. One of the persons "cleaned" approximately $1,000. After this demonstration, however, the chemical congealed and would no longer work. Premo was told that it would cost $21,000 to obtain more cleaner. He was asked to pay the cost to replace the cleaner. Premo secured a $21,000 cash advance on a credit card to acquire the funds. Premo tendered the $21,000 to the persons and returned to the United States. After he returned to the states, he received a fax telling him that more money was required to obtain the chemical. Premo was asked for $66,900 to cover the additional cost. Premo wired $66,900 from his bank account in Delaware to the account of Prime Chemical Company.

In June 2000, another person contacted Premo and told him that he had $35,000,000 that had already been cleaned and was being held in a storage facility in Chicago. The person told Premo that if he would help him retrieve the $35,000,000 from Chicago, he would help Premo retrieve the $41,000,000 from South Africa. Premo was told that the money would be used to establish a church in Chicago. Premo agreed to help. He was then advised by the Chicago contact that $120,000 was needed to release the $35,000,000 from storage in Chicago. Premo agreed to raise $82,000. In July 2000, he traveled to Lansing, Illinois where he met with James Hughes-Irabor, Sonowo's co-defendant, and gave him $82,000 in cash. Hughes-Irabor then left the hotel where he had met with Premo.

Hughes-Irabor and another man eventually returned to the hotel with a foot-locker filled with money. Hughes-Irabor introduced the other person as Henry Sonowo. Sonowo claimed to be the representative for Global Offshore Services, the company that allegedly had possession of the $35,000,000. Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor met with Premo and opened the foot-locker of money. To their "surprise," the money was covered in ink. Sonowo performed a money washing demonstration with the cleaning chemical. After washing approximately $1,000, the chemical would no longer pour. Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor told Premo that the chemical was under warranty and could be replaced at no cost.

Premo left Illinois and returned to Delaware. Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor contacted him and told him that the manufacturer of the chemical would not honor the warranty and that it would cost $273,000 to obtain more of the chemical. Premo agreed and returned to Illinois with his son. Premo brought $273,000 with him. However, one of the persons Premo had met with in South Africa called him at the hotel and told him that he and his son were not safe, and that he would be calling hotel security and the local police. When the police arrived, they checked the driver's licenses of the defendants but made no arrests. Premo and his son left and took the money with them.

On July 19, 2000, DAK called Premo and told him that the $41,500,000 had been shipped from South Africa. DAK then gave Premo the telephone number for the person that he should deal with from that point. Premo recognized the telephone number as Sonowo's.

On July 20, 2000, Hughes-Irabor traveled to Delaware and met with Premo and two others whom Premo had recruited. Hughes-Irabor told them that it would still cost $273,000 to purchase the chemical. The investors agreed. After the meeting, Sonowo called Premo and told him that a 75% deposit was required before the chemical could be obtained. Premo gave Hughes-Irabor $205,000 in cash. Hughes-Irabor again expressed the "ministry's" gratitude for their support. Indeed, at various points, Hughes-Irabor had sent electronic mail messages to Premo stating that the money would be used to support a ministry organized in the United States.

Three days later, Sonowo again contacted Premo and told him that the balance of $68,000 was needed before the chemical could be released. On July 24, 2000, Premo's son took $68,000 in cash to Illinois. On July 26, Sonowo told Premo that the chemical company had filed a petition in South Africa that disputed the ownership of the chemical. Sonowo stated that he and Premo would have to produce a certificate of ownership in order to claim the chemical. Sonowo claimed that investors in Europe held the certificate, and that it would take several weeks to obtain it from them. However, Sonowo promised to look for excess chemical from other sources in the interim.

On July 27, 2000, Premo contacted the Wilmington office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Premo began recording conversations with Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor. They continued their attempts to solicit money from Premo. In one conversation, Premo suggested that he had a new investor. The new investor was an FBI agent.

On August 2, 2000, Hughes-Irabor told Premo that he and Sonowo needed $200,000 from Premo to purchase the chemical from a new source. Premo and his investor agreed to travel to Illinois and deliver the money to Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor. On August 10, 2000, Premo and the "investor" met with Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor in Harvey, Illinois. Hughes-Irabor confirmed that Premo had already given him $353,000 to purchase the chemical, and that including the money spent in South Africa, Premo and his investors had given approximately $1,100,000. Sonowo and Hughes-Irabor were arrested by the FBI at this meeting.⁸

B. Other Conduct Relevant to the Offense

Facts obtained during pre-sentence investigation indicate that Sonowo's involvement in the "black money" scheme began as early as 1998. In December 1998, customs officers in the United Kingdom intercepted a DHL package that was shipped from Lagos, Nigeria to Kareem Bello (Sonowo) in Calumet City, Illinois. The package contained 2,500 fee solicitation letters that were addressed to be mailed in the United States. The address on the package matched one of the defendant's former addresses.

The pre-sentence investigation also revealed that Premo was not Sonowo's only victim. Richard Powelson, a Kansas City, Missouri resident, was solicited for funds via letter in December 1997. The letter requested assistance in obtaining the release of $25,000,000. In February 1998, Powelson paid $35,000 to facilitate the transfer, and was then told that it would cost $550,000 to complete the transaction. He was subsequently told that there would be no further fees if he paid a sum of $144,392. Powelson paid the $144,392 fee, and then paid an additional $65,000. He then traveled to the Ivory Coast to meet with the solicitors, where he tendered an additional $59,000. He was then taken to a room where he was shown a trunk of money filled with United States currency. Each note was stamped in black ink with Powelson's name — a "special security feature" to ensure that only he could get the money. A cleaning demonstration was performed at this meeting. Powelson was told that he would need to pay a fee to buy the chemical to clean the ink.

Powelson returned to the United States. On...