Con man’s prison time extended by 6 months

A con man whose “Nigerian letter” scam enticed a Ferry County businesswoman to steal more than $670,000 from her customers has been sentenced to six months in prison.

The recent sentence in U.S. District Court in Spokane gives 43-year-old Terry O. Ayeni credit for the time he has served since he pleaded guilty April 14 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice said the sentence was considered an “incremental” increase to a 46-month sentence for wire fraud that ended in April. He said the new wire fraud conviction sprang from the same “course of criminal conduct” for which Ayeni pleaded guilty in April 2003 in federal court in New York, Rice said.

In both cases, Ayeni and others lured strangers into sending them tens of thousands of dollars by promising millions in return for helping circumvent Nigerian banking restrictions. Republic, Wash., land title company owner Donna Burbank, 51, exhausted her funds and began sending her clients’ money to Ayeni and his unidentified accomplices.

Burbank pleaded guilty in August 2003 to embezzling from federally insured financial institutions, and she was sentenced in June 2004 to three years in prison. She is scheduled for release in December.

When Ayeni pleaded guilty last April to defrauding Burbank, he agreed to provide evidence against “at least three” accomplices. Ayeni is to be deported to his native Nigeria, and his new sentence prohibits him from re-entering the United States without permission from the U.S. attorney general’s office.

– John Craig

Spokane Valley

Woman jailed in husband’s shooting

A Spokane Valley woman who allegedly shot her husband and herself July 22 was booked into jail Thursday on suspicion of first-degree assault.

Roberta Maye Long, 52, is accused of shooting her husband, 56-year-old John “Mike” Long, in his side in a bedroom of their apartment at 111 N. Locust Road. The couple had quarreled earlier at their business, Blongo Family Fun, 9517 E. Fourth Ave., according to court documents.

After shooting her husband of 25 years, the documents say, Roberta Long shot herself under the chin.

Mike Long was able to call for help, although the bullet that hit him passed across his back and nicked his spine before exiting.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan said officers believe the weapon was a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol. A .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol also was seized from the apartment.

According to court documents, Mike Long’s sister, Linda Long, told officers her brother had feared his wife would attempt suicide. Linda Long told investigators that Roberta Long had attempted suicide about six years ago after her son killed himself.

Mike Long told officers he had gone to the apartment to gather some clothing and move out. He said his wife shot him after telling him she didn’t believe in divorce.

The Longs recovered from their wounds and filed for divorce on July 31.

Roberta Long remained in jail Thursday night in lieu of a $25,000 cash-only bail.

– John Craig