Nnenna Mary Jones, a 40-year-old resident of Melissa, has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs today.
Jones pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sean D. Jordan on December 20, 2023. In addition to the prison term, she was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $16,950.
According to court information, Jones was employed as a paralegal at the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity based in Plano, Texas. The Foundation provides support to Muslim women and their families who are survivors of domestic and family violence, offering services such as in-house legal assistance with the immigration process.
Jones, a Department of Justice Accredited Representative and a licensed attorney in Nigeria, misrepresented to clients that they were required to pay certain fees to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for their immigration proceedings. In reality, these fees had either been waived by the government or covered by the Foundation.
Clients, following Jones's instructions, wrote checks and obtained money orders for the purported fees but left the "pay to" line blank. Jones then photocopied these checks and money orders, wrote "U.S. Department of Homeland Security" on the copies, and placed them in clients' files. She later filled in her own name in the "pay to" line of the original checks and money orders, ultimately cashing or depositing them into her personal accounts.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
