Portland Woman Pleads Guilty to Submitting False Documents to Probation Officer

PORTLAND, ME—United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced that Shalome Odokara, 49, of Portland, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to two counts of submitting false documents to a government agency.

According to court records, in March of 2008 Odokara was sentenced to five years probation by the United States District Court in the District of Columbia for conspiracy to structure transactions. Odokara’s probation was transferred to the District of Maine because she was living in Maine. One of the conditions of Odokara’s probation was that she was to report to her probation officer and submit a truthful and complete written report each month. Between May of 2008 and February of 2009, Odokara submitted materially false monthly reports to her probation officer. The reports provided false information regarding Odokara’s finances and the activity in her bank accounts.

In September of 2008, Odokara also provided forged bank account statements to her probation officer in an effort to corroborate the false figures that she had provided on her monthly reports. The actual activity in Odokara’s bank accounts was materially different from the information contained in the false documents created and submitted by Odokara.

Odokara faces a maximum possible sentence of 5 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both, on each of the two counts. At the same proceeding at which Odokara pleaded guilty, Odokara also admitted violating the terms of her probation. Odokara faces a maximum sentence of 3 years imprisonment for the probation violations.

United States Attorney Silsby praised the investigation conducted by the United States Probation Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.