Nigerian man guilty of entering phony marriage to evade deportation

PAWTUCKET – A Nigerian national living in Pawtucket was found guilty of entering into a fraudulent marriage to evade deportation, among other charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Rasheed Abiodun Akanni, 42, was found guilty on Thursday of entering into a marriage with a U.S. citizen for the purpose of evading deportation, false statements to a federal officer, and failure to appear before the U.S. District Court as required by conditions of release. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17.

According to the government’s evidence presented during a three-day trial, Akanni entered the country from Nigeria on June 3, 2003, on a six-month visitor for pleasure visa, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. However, he never left the United States and made several unsuccessful attempts to gain legal status.

Four years later, in July 2007, Akanni filed for lawful permanent resident status as the spouse of an American woman, who later withdrew her support for Akanni’s application. Three years later, in November 2010, Akanni filed a petition for asylum, which stayed removal proceedings, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In 2012, Akanni began a relationship with an American woman, whom he later married in a civil ceremony on Valentine’s Day in 2013. The couple continued to live in separate residences until they rented an apartment in June of that year. However, the woman told investigators that Akanni only stayed at their residence three to four nights a week and after two months, she told him to move out, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In October 2013, Akanni told his wife that he would be filing an application for lawful permanent residence based on their marriage. His wife testified that she was unaware that Akanni was not a legal resident, but that she agreed to support his application for legal status. After U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services interviews in 2014 and 2015, investigations determined that Akanni and his wife gave conflicting answers regarding the state of their marriage, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

In September 2016, a federal grand jury indicted Akanni and he was arraigned and released on unsecured bond, with one of the conditions being that he was ordered to appear for trial in U.S. District Court on Jan. 30. But on that day, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says, Akanni failed to appear for his trial.

In the early morning hours of Jan. 31, Akanni was stopped attempting to enter Canada with an American passport in another person’s name. Canadian officers returned him to a checkpoint in Lewiston, N.Y. and he was later returned to Rhode Island, where he remained in federal custody.