Opinion ID: 3025176
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nyakatura’s Criminal Conviction

Text: Nyakatura, a native and citizen of Uganda, was admitted to the United States as a nonimmigrant in March 1991 and adjusted his status to lawful permanent resident on May 28, 1998. On August 22, 2001, he and a co-defendant, Luther White, were indicted for bribery and money laundering in connection with Nyakatura’s misuse of his position as Controller and Chief Financial Officer of KCMC Child Development Corporation (“KCMC”), located in Kansas City, Missouri. 2 The indictment stated that, from 1998 to 2001, KCMC received grants of federal funds in excess of $10,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), under the Head Start and Early Head Start Programs. White owned and operated D&H Realty and Development (“D&H”). Between September 1997 and March 2000, Nyakatura paid D&H approximately $1.1 million, supposedly for the renovation of various child care centers operated by KCMC. The checks paid to D&H were drawn from the KCMC Head Start operating account, into which federal grant money from HHS was regularly deposited. Nyakatura and White submitted fraudulent invoices to KCMC to make it appear as though D&H performed work and purchased construction materials, when in fact it had not. White then paid over $200,000 in monetary kickbacks to Nyakatura for providing those fraudulent payments to D&H. On February 21, 2002, Nyakatura pled guilty to Counts Three and Six of the indictment. Count Three, for bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds under 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(1)(B), alleged that Nyakatura, as an agent of KCMC, corruptly accepted and agreed to accept over $200,000 in monetary kickbacks from White, intending to be influenced and rewarded by those payments. Count Six, for money laundering under 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), alleged that Nyakatura conducted a financial transaction affecting interstate commerce, namely the purchase of a cashier’s check in the amount of $8,500, and that the check represented the proceeds of fraudulent activity concerning programs receiving federal funds. 3 Nyakatura was sentenced to a prison term of 51 months on each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. He was also ordered to pay restitution of over $885,000 to KCMC.