U.S. District Court Dismisses $30.5M Fraud and Money Laundering Indictment

On March 31, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted our client’s motion to dismiss the federal indictment against him.  In the indictment, the government charged our client with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  The government alleged that our client and others conspired in a collection scheme targeting law firms in the United States and Canada.  According to the government, the actual loss amount was approximately $30.5 million.  In the case, however, Mr. Okoro was indicted in 2012, arrested in 2017, extradited from Canada in 2018, and detained in harsh conditions of pretrial detention until March 2023.  Thus, constitutional speedy-trial issues lurked.  And on the eve of a new trial date, after two prior attempts to dismiss were unsuccessful, the district court agreed that our client’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was violated.  In kind, the district court dismissed the indictment against our client, with prejudice.  The case was litigated by Attorney K. Wesley (Wes) Mishoe.