Justice Patricia Ajoku of the Federal High Court 1, sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday, May 24, 2019 convicted and sentenced one Benson Godspower to four months in prison over lottery scam.
The 29-year-old was convicted of a one-count amended charge of impersonation filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office.
The offence contravenes Section 22 (3) (b) and punishable under Section 22(4) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015.
The amendment of the earlier charges followed a plea bargain agreement between him and the Commission. His earlier three-count charge which borders on possession of fraudulent e-mails and documents was reduced to a one-count charge.
According to the charge, Godspower impersonated one James Adams via the e-mail address ja44666@gmail.com where he falsely represented himself to one Anapela Afualo that she had won money from a Facebook award.
During the Friday court sitting, EFCC counsel, Mabas Mabur, informed the court of the plea bargain agreement and prayed the count to accept it.
When the charge and the terms were read to the accused, he admitted committing the crime and pleaded guilty to same.
In view of his plea, Justice Ajoku convicted and sentenced him to four months in prison with effect from the date of his arrest being April 4, 2019.
The court also ordered that the convict forfeits his Tecno phone and HP Laptop to the Federal Government of Nigeria.