Illegal Aliens Sentenced in Conspiracy and Counterfeiting Scam

‪NEW ORLEANS, LA—PIERRE EMMANUEL JALLA, age 39, and JACKSON NTONE NDEMBA, age 36, citizens of the Republic of Cameroon, were sentenced in federal court yesterday by U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten. Specifically, JALLA was sentenced to 33 months’ imprisonment and JACKSON was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. The defendants were also ordered to serve two years of supervised release during which time they risk additional imprisonment should they violate any terms of the release. ‬

‪According to court documents, both defendant who are illegally present in the United States, were convicted by a federal jury in July 2010, of conspiracy to counterfeit and counterfeiting. During the two-day trial, the government presented evidence that JALLA and NDEMBA solicited $60,000 in U.S. currency from an undercover FBI task force agent, and, in return, agreed to produce $120,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency. In reality, the defendants intended to steal the $60,000 provided by the agent.‬

This investigation was conducted by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service. The prosecution of this case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Gregory M. Kennedy and W. Scott Laragy.