Permanent Resident of the United States Sentenced to Prison After Defrauding the Government through the Diversity Visa Lottery System

A man who came to the United States in 2013 and claimed asylum was sentenced Friday for his involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the government.

Joseph Longanga Okoko, age 69, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, received the prison term on January 30, 2026, after a guilty plea to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

In June 2013, Okoko entered the United States on a visa and later applied for asylum. He then petitioned for several of his children, who were living in Congo, to join him in the United States. In his application, Okoko listed one of his children as unmarried. In a plea agreement, Okoko admitted that in May 2019 his child married Bienvenu Saido Binyangi prior to coming to the United States. Okoko never updated his petition to show that his child was married. Additionally, when filing out an application to adjust his status, Okoko falsely stated that he had never been charged with, committed, or convicted of a crime. However, on December 5, 2019, Okoko was convicted of disorderly conduct, fighting, or violent behavior, in Black Hawk County, Iowa.

Okoko also admitted to assisting individuals in the Congo to illegally enter the United States. Okoko provided false information in immigration paperwork, and assisted diversity visa lottery winners in entering fake marriages so they could enter the United States illegally. Okoko also paid for people to enter the United States but then required repayment at a hundred to three hundred percent of his cost.

Okoko was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. Okoko was sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment and fined $10,000. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Okoko was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on a date yet to be set. Medard Lotahe Elonge, Joseph Onolenga Okamba, and Bienvenu Saido Binyangi, who were charged in the same indictment and have also pled guilty to crimes in the indictment, have 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, the United States Postal Inspection, 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.

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.

Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.