The Gwagwalada Division of the FCT High Court on Wednesday, sentenced a 29-year-old internet fraudster, Eke Emmanuel, aka Miller Fulton, to one year imprisonment for defrauding his victim of $700.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted the convict in court on a charge of cheating by impersonation.

He pleaded guilty to the charge and begged the court for mercy.

Justice Aliyu Shafa delivered judgment, holding that the convict was guilty and sentenced to time in the correctional centre.

Mr Shafa, however, granted the convict an option of a N200,000 fine.

The judge also granted the application of the prosecution counsel, Chiamaka Njoku, that the iPhone X cellphone used to commit the crime and the $700 recovered from the convict should be forfeited to the federal government.

He also ordered the convict to swear an affidavit of good behaviour after his term in jail or upon paying his fine.

Earlier, while pleading for mercy, the convict told the court that he was deeply sorry for his action.

In his allocutus on behalf of the convict, defence counsel P.E. Egeolu pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

Mr Egeolu said that the convict, who has no criminal records, was remorseful.

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Ms Njoku, said the convict cheated by impersonation sometime in 2023 when he assumed the identity of Miller Fulton, a military man from Denver, Colorado.

She said the convict fraudulently obtained the sum of 700 dollars from some unsuspecting victims.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provision of section 321 of the Penal Code, punishable under section 324 of the code.

Through an oral application, Njoku requested that the court order the forfeiture of the phone and money recovered from the convict to be sent to the federal government through the EFCC.

(NAN)