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Home Court filings United States v. Lawal (WAWD 318629)

Case docket

United States v. Fatiu Ismaila Lawal — U.S. District Court, W.D. Wash.

United States v. Fatiu Ismaila Lawal — U.S. District Court, W.D. Wash. — 8 documents in the archive, dated January 25, 2023 to January 28, 2025.

Case facts

CourtU.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Docket numberNo. 3:23-cr-05034 — main docket · CourtListener dockets 318629, 318630
Filings8 public filings
Filed2023-01-25 – 2025-01-28
Original PDFs8 of 8

Case summary

Fatiu Ismaila Lawal was prosecuted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, No. CR23-5034 (3:23-cr-05034). The United States' sentencing memorandum, filed January 21, 2025, states that Lawal pleaded guilty to counts 3, wire fraud, and 16, aggravated identity theft, and that he and co-conspirator Sakiru Ambali had stolen the personal identifying information of more than 14,700 Americans and used it to submit more than 1,700 fraudulent claims for COVID-19 unemployment benefits in at least 27 states and fraudulent applications for small business assistance. The government recommended 41 months on count 3 consecutive to the mandatory 24 months on count 16, a total of 65 months, and restitution of $1,345,472 as agreed in the plea agreement.

Case at a glance

Defendant(s)Fatiu Ismaila Lawal; the memorandum names Sakiru Ambali as co-conspirator and co-defendant
Court and docketU.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, No. 3:23-cr-05034 (captioned CR23-5034-TMC-01 and CR23-5034-RJB-01 in different filings), Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright
ProgramCOVID-19 unemployment benefits; the memorandum also describes fraudulent applications for small business assistance and fraudulent U.S. tax refund claims
ChargesCount 3, wire fraud; count 16, aggravated identity theft, carrying a mandatory 24-month term
Outcome and sentencePleaded guilty to counts 3 and 16; plea agreement filed September 12, 2024. Sentenced January 28, 2025 by Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright to 54 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release, with $1,345,472 in restitution (judgment, pp. 1–3, 6)
Counts of convictionPleaded guilty to counts 3 and 16 of the indictment: wire fraud, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, count 3; aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A, count 16; offense ended 02/22/2023; counts 1, 2, 4-15 and 17 dismissed on motion of the United States (judgment of January 28, 2025, p. 1)
Sentence imposed54 months' imprisonment: 30 months on count 3 and 24 months on count 16 (p. 2); three years of supervised release (p. 3)
Restitution$1,345,472, ordered pursuant to the plea agreement, to the U.S. Department of Labor (printed $1,345,472, hand-corrected to $1,315,472) and the Internal Revenue Service ($30,000, handwritten), each at 100%; interest waived (p. 6)
Fine and assessmentFine waived; special assessment $200 (p. 6)
ForfeitureThe judgment's forfeiture line is unchecked and blank (p. 7)
Status checked2026-09-23 · against DOJ press releases through 2026-09-22; court docket not yet read

What did the government recommend?

Forty-one months on the wire fraud count, consecutive to the mandatory 24-month term on the aggravated identity theft count, for 65 months in total, plus restitution of $1,345,472 and a special condition barring re-entry after deportation without permission from the Department of Homeland Security.

What does the memorandum say about the scheme?

That Lawal and Sakiru Ambali had stolen the identifying information of more than 14,700 Americans, and that from the onset of the pandemic in 2020 they submitted more than 1,700 fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment claims in at least 27 states. It states Lawal personally participated in the submission of more than 3,791 fraudulent claims for government funds.

Is the sentence on the page?

Yes. The judgment of January 28, 2025 is a scanned form with the terms written in by hand. It commits Lawal to 54 months in prison: 30 months on the wire fraud count and 24 months on the aggravated identity theft count (p. 2). The memorandum contains one sentence, printed after a passage about Ambali, reading that on March 14, 2024 Judge Robert J. Bryan "sentenced Lawal to a total of 42 months of incarceration". Ambali's judgment, signed by Judge Bryan on March 14, 2024, imposes a total of 42 months (Dkt. 45, p. 2), so that sentence appears to describe Ambali's term under Lawal's name.

Defendants

CourtListener keeps a separate docket for each defendant under this docket number. Their filings are merged into the docket below; each row names the CourtListener docket it came from.

Docket

8 documents in docket-entry order; attachments follow their entry. Gaps name the entries we do not have.

No. 3:23-cr-05034

  1. Indictment as to Fatiu Ismaila Lawal (1) counts 1, 2-11, 12-17Entry 1 · CourtListener docket 318630
  2. —Entries 2–34 are not in the archive
  3. Plea Agreement as to Sakiru Olanrewaju Ambali (cc: Uspo, Flu, Afu)Entry 35 · CourtListener docket 318630
  4. —Entries 36–42 are not in the archive
  5. Sentencing Memorandum by USA as to Sakiru Olanrewaju AmbaliEntry 43 · CourtListener docket 318630
  6. Exhibit B — United States v. Lawal (Dkt. 43-2, W.D. Wash. No. 3:23-cr-05034)Entry 43, attachment 2 · CourtListener docket 318630
  7. —Entry 44 is not in the archive
  8. JUDGMENT as to Sakiru Olanrewaju Ambali by Judge Robert J. Bryan. (cc:… — United States v. Lawal (Dkt. 45)Entry 45 · CourtListener docket 318630
  9. —Entries 46–59 are not in the archive
  10. Plea Agreement as to Fatiu Ismaila Lawal (cc: Uspo, Flu, Afu)Entry 60 · CourtListener docket 318629
  11. —Entries 61, 63–65 and 67–69 are not in the archive; entries 62 and 66 are listed under More documents below
  12. Sentencing Memorandum by USA as to Fatiu Ismaila Lawal — United States v. Lawal (Dkt. 70, W.D. Wash. No. 3:23-cr-05034)Entry 70 · CourtListener docket 318629
  13. —Entries 71–72 are not in the archive
  14. Judgment as to Fatiu Ismaila Lawal — United States v. Lawal (Dkt. 73, W.D. Wash. No. 3:23-cr-05034)Entry 73 · CourtListener docket 318629

More documents from this case’s dockets

3 more documents linked to this case’s dockets are in the archive and not in the docket above.

  1. Order of Detention Pending Trial (Modified) — United States of America v. Fatiu Ismaila Lawal, Case 3:23-cr-05034-RJB (Dkt. 52, W.D. Wash.)Dkt. 52 · PDF
  2. Acceptance of Plea of Guilty, Adjudication of Guilt — United States v. Lawal (W.D. Wash., Document 62-1)Dkt. 62-1 · PDF
  3. Order of Recusal — United States v. Fatiu Ismaila Lawal, 3:23-cr-05034 (W.D. Wash., Document 66)Dkt. 66 · PDF

Other cases in the archive from U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Court, dates and docket numbers are as recorded on the filings.

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