WASHINGTON - Adriane Osuagwu, formerly of Pittsburgh, California, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to Conspiracy to Commit Extortion in connection with a scheme to extort a married local physician who had engaged in an extra-marital affair, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, and U.S. Capitol Police Chief Phillip Morse.

The plea hearing was held before U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer. Osuagwu faces a statutory penalty of up to five years in jail, three years of supervised release, a fine and restitution when sentenced on January 30, 2009. Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Osuagwu faces a likely sentence of 21 to 27 months in prison.

At today's plea hearing, Osuagwu admitted that he is a citizen of Nigeria who came to the United States in 2001. Osuagwu admitted that in February 2006, he and his former lover, Queen Nwoye, discussed a plan to extort a married local physician, who had once engaged in an extra-marital affair with Nwoye, who was also married. At the time of their affair, which had already ended, the physician's wife was an official with the Nigerian government.

In furtherance of the plan to extort the doctor, Nowye called the doctor to tell him that she had told one of her cousins about her affair with the doctor, and the cousin – who actually was Osuagwu – wanted to speak to the doctor. The doctor reluctantly called the cousin, i.e., Osuagwu, who then demanded payment from the doctor in exchange for not informing the doctor's wife and the medical board about his affair with Nowye.

During the course of the conspiracy, from February 21, 2006, through April 10, 2006, the doctor made six separate payments, totaling $185,000, to Osuagwu and Nowye. Although Nowye was responsible for personally picking up several of the payments or receiving wire transfers into her bank account, financial records showed that Osuagwu kept $174,000, while Nwoye kept $11,000, of the proceeds from the extortion scheme.

In November 2007, Queen Nwoye was found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit extortion and sentenced in June 2008 to a term of 20 months in prison.

In announcing today's guilty plea, U.S. Attorney Taylor, FBI Assistant Director in Charge Persichini, and U.S. Capitol Police Chief Morse praised the efforts of FBI Special Agent William Ronacher and U.S. Capitol Police Detective Mark Crawford, who conducted the investigation. They also commended the U.S. Attorney Office staff that assisted in the successful prosecution, including Phaylyn Hunt, Latoya Wade, and Latoya Davenport, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Frederick Yette, who is prosecuting the case.