A man who came to the United States in 2008 was sentenced to six months in prison today for his involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the government. Joseph Onolenga Okamba, age 40, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, received the prison term after a November 13, 2025, guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Two other members of the conspiracy have already been sentenced. Joseph Longanga Okoko was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, and Medard Lotahe Elonge was sentenced to twelve months and one day imprisonment.

In a plea agreement, Okamba admitted that an object of the conspiracy was to fraudulently obtain visas for citizens of the Congo, including family members and friends who were not otherwise eligible for citizenship.

As part of the conspiracy, Okamba was involved in multiple visa petitions where the petitioner, who had previously won the diversity visa lottery, was fraudulently asking to bring an alleged spouse to the United States. As part of the federal investigation, one of the petitioners was summoned to grand jury. Okamba, along with co-defendant Medard Lotahe Elonge, provided the individual a marriage certificate of a fraudulent marriage to submit to the grand jury as proof of the legitimacy of the purported marriage. Additionally, Okamba successfully petitioned for an individual to come to the United States claiming the individual was his birth mom, knowing they were not biologically related. When questioned by law enforcement officers about his relationship to the woman, Okamba lied about her name and birthdate. During an interview with law enforcement officers in 2023, Okamba admitted to assisting hundreds of Congolese people with immigration paperwork.

Okamba was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Okamba was sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment and fined $4,000. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Okamba was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on June 22, 2026. Bienvenu Saido Binyangi, who was charged in the same indictment and has also pled guilty, has yet to be sentenced.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew J. Cole and Nicole L. Nagin and was investigated by the Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Waterloo Police Department, the Sioux City Police Department, and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file number is 24-CR-2052.

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