UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

SAMUEL UCHENNA ANIUKWU,

 also known as “Uchenna Samuel

 Aniukwu” and “Sammy Maxwell”; 

ANTHONY EMEKA IBEKIE,

 also known as “Emeka Toni Ibe,”

 “Toni Ibe Emeka,” and “Emenike 

Tonero”; and

JENNIFER GOSHA

No. 20 CR 352 

Judge Steven C. Seeger

JOINT STATUS REPORT

The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, through JOHN R. LAUSCH, JR., 

United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and defendants, 

SAMUEL UCHENNA ANIUKWU, through Arthur Engelland, ANTHONY EMEKA 

IBEKIE, through Paul Camarena, and JENNIFER GOSHA, through Patrick Boyle, 

respectfully submit this status report regarding the above-captioned matter:

Relevant Procedural History

1. On or about July 10, 2020, defendants ANIUKWU, IBEKIE, and 

GOSHA were charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit 

wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 1349. (See 

Dkt. 1.) They were arrested on the charges in the criminal complaint on or about July 

16, 2020.

2. On or about October 15, 2020, a federal grand jury returned a sixteencount indictment charging defendants ANIUKWU, IBEKIE, and GOSHA with mail 
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and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341 and 1343, 

as well as making false statements to a bank, in violation of Title 18, United States 

Code, Section 1014. The indictment also charged defendants ANIUKWU and IBEKIE 

with passport fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1543. Lastly, 

the indictment charged defendant GOSHA with making a materially false statement 

to federal agents, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. (Dkt. 56.)

3. On or about July 1, 2021, a federal grand jury returned an eighteencount superseding indictment charging defendants ANIUKWU, IBEKIE, and 

GOSHA with mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, 

Sections 1341 and 1343, as well as making false statements to a bank, in violation of 

Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014. The superseding indictment also charges 

defendants ANIUKWU and IBEKIE with money laundering, in violation of Title 18, 

United States Code, Sections 1957(a) and 2, and passport fraud, in violation of Title 

18, United States Code, Section 1543. Lastly, the superseding indictment charges 

defendant GOSHA with making a materially false statement to federal agents, in 

violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. (Dkt. 118.)

4. Defendants ANIUKWU and IBEKIE are currently detained pending 

trial, and defendant GOSHA is under pretrial supervision. (Dkt. 16, 28, 40.)

5. Defendants IBEKIE and GOSHA are separately charged with marriagefraud conspiracy in United States v. Anthony Ibekie, et al., No. 21 CR 409, which is 

pending before the Hon. Edmond E. Chang.
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Status of Discovery

6. On or about October 30, 2020, the Court (the Hon. Charles R. Norgle) 

issued a protective order governing discovery in this matter. (See Dkt. 70.)

7. The government has tendered substantial pretrial discovery to defense 

counsel, consisting of law-enforcement reports, bank records and other financial 

information, grand jury transcripts, victim affidavits, audio-video recordings and 

digital media, and search-warrant evidence, among other materials, totaling several 

gigabytes of data and tens of thousands of pages. With its various productions, the 

government has enclosed detailed indices of the tendered materials, identifying with 

specificity which documents and records were subject to the Court’s protective order.

8. At this time, the government does not anticipate any further discovery 

productions—other than Jencks Act and Giglio materials, if any, for witnesses that 

will be called at trial—which the government committed to providing to all defense 

counsel no later than one week prior to trial, with no objections from counsel to date.

Prior Motion Practice Before Judge Norgle

9. On or about January 13, 2021, defendant IBEKIE filed a motion to reopen hearing for pretrial release. (Dkt. 80.) Following lengthy briefing by both parties 

(see Dkt. 86, 110, 111), the Court denied defendant IBEKIE’s motion on June 9, 2021

(Dkt. 117.)

10. On or about August 16, 2021, defendant IBEKIE filed motions to issue 

letters rogatory to the Nigeria Police Force and to Access Bank Nigeria, PLC. (Dkt. 
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128, 129.) The Court denied defendant IBEKIE’s motions on November 29, 2021. 

(Dkt. 137.)

11. On or about January 10, 2022, defendant IBEKIE filed a pro se motion 

for the appointment of new counsel (Dkt. 149), which the Court granted on January 

19, 2022 (Dkt. 153), leading to the appointment of defendant IBEKIE’s current 

counsel of record. The government has produced all discovery materials listed above 

to defendant IBEKIE’s current counsel. Defendant IBEKIE has had a total of four 

counsel of record in this matter, including Gerald Collins, Stephen Richards, Joshua 

Richards, and now, Paul Camarena.

12. During a status hearing on August 25, 2022, the Court—at the parties’ 

joint request—set September 30, 2022 as the final deadline for filing any pretrial 

motions. (Dkt. 173.) No pretrial motions were filed.

Status of Plea Negotiations

13. The government has engaged in preliminary plea discussions with 

counsel for all defendants, which are at various stages. At this juncture, it is unclear 

whether defendant ANIUKWU is likely to plead guilty or proceed to trial. Based on 

ongoing discussions with defendant GOSHA’s counsel, the parties expect that the 

charges against her are likely to be resolved short of trial, though no final decision 

has been made to date. Defendant IBEKIE expects to proceed to trial.

Expected Length of Trial

14. The government anticipates that presentation of its case-in-chief during 

any trial in this matter will take approximately two to three weeks. Defendants do 
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not have an estimated length for any defense case(s) but expect that they will be able 

to provide that information to the Court at the next status hearing date.

15. As noted above, defendant IBEKIE expects to proceed to trial, and his 

counsel expects to be ready for trial in this matter by Spring 2023. The government’s 

undersigned counsel is currently scheduled for a lengthy wire-fraud trial before Judge 

Durkin, in United States v. Rishi Shah, et al., No. 19 CR 864, which is scheduled to 

begin on January 23, 2023, and expected to take approximately 14 weeks. To that 

end, the government anticipates that it can be ready for trial in this matter by 

Summer 2023.

Request for Further Status Hearing

16. The parties mutually agree that continuing the case for approximately 

60 days, for a status hearing in or around December 2022, is appropriate. At that 

status hearing, the parties expect that they will be prepared to request: (1) a changeof-plea date for any defendant who expects to resolve the case short of trial; (2) a trial 

date for any remaining defendants; and (3) a briefing schedule for the government’s 

Santiago proffer, motions in limine, and other pretrial filings. Given the change in 

presiding judges in this case, the parties respectfully request that the status hearing 

be conducted in person, with each defendant ordered to be present.
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17. The government moves to exclude time until the next status hearing set 

by the Court, in the interests of justice, given the complexity of the case, and to allow 

the parties to continue their plea negotiations. Defendants ANIUKWU, IBEKIE, and 

GOSHA do not object to the exclusion of time.

Respectfully submitted,

JOHN R. LAUSCH, JR. 

United States Attorney

By: /s/ Saurish Appleby-Bhattacharjee

SAURISH APPLEBY-BHATTACHARJEE

PAIGE A. NUTINI

Assistant U.S. Attorneys

219 South Dearborn St., Rm. 500

Chicago, Illinois 60604

Dated: October 14, 2022 (312) 697-4071

By: /s/ via 10.14.2022 phone authorization

Arthur Engelland, Esq.

Counsel for Defendant

SAMUEL UCHENNA ANIUKWU

By: /s/ via 10.13.2022 email authorization

Paul Camarena, Esq.

Counsel for Defendant

ANTHONY EMEKA IBEKIE

By: /s/ via 10.13.2022 email authorization

Patrick Boyle, Esq.

Counsel for Defendant

JENNIFER GOSHA