The Gwagwalada Division of the FCT High Court on Thursday sentenced a 21-year-old student, Adakole Peter, to one-year imprisonment for defrauding a Chinese woman of $50.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned the convict on two counts of cheating by impersonation and pretending to be a military personnel.
He pleaded guilty to the charges and begged the court for leniency.
Delivering judgment, Justice Aliyu Shafa also gave him an option of a fine of N150,000.
Mr Shafa ordered the convict to sign an affidavit of good behaviour, adding that the Redmi phone being used for the crime would be sold, and the proceeds would be deposited in the federal government’s account through the EFCC.
He also ordered that the $50 recovered from the convict be paid into the federal government account.
Earlier, the convict, in his plea for mercy, promised the court that he had realised his mistake and would not repeat it again.
“I have repented and realised my mistakes. I plead with the court to tamper justice with mercy,” he pleaded.
The defence counsel, Bridget Abang, in support of the convict’s allocutus, pleaded with the court to tamper with justice with mercy.
Ms Abang pleaded with the court to consider the convict’s plea and age, adding that he was a first-time offender.
The prosecution counsel, I.D. Iloakasia, told the court that the convict and his counsel had entered and signed a plea bargain on June 10.
Mr Iloakasia said between April and May, the convict within the court’s jurisdiction deceived his victim while pretending to be Steve M Marks, a military personnel.
He said the convict carried out an illegal act by inducing Ruth Novick, a Chinese citizen, to send him $50 gift cards. The convict then sold them via the internet for N20,000.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened section 321 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation Abuja, 1990 and punishable under Section 324 of the same Act.
The prosecutor had earlier urged the court that the money and instrument recovered from the convict be forfeited to the federal government through the EFCC.
