Medard Lotahe Elonge, a 40-year-old citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo living in Sioux City, Iowa, was sentenced on April 10 to federal prison for his role in a scheme to defraud the United States government.
Elonge pleaded guilty on September 8, 2025, to conspiracy to defraud the United States. According to court documents, he entered the country in January 2022 on a student visa and later applied for asylum. Authorities said Elonge and others arranged a fraudulent marriage involving the mother of his children so she could come from Congo to join him in the United States. In his plea agreement, Elonge admitted that another man married his wife as part of this plan and was expected to divorce her six months after her arrival.
United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Elonge in Cedar Rapids to one year and one day in prison followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole available under federal law. Elonge has been released on bond and must surrender himself to U.S. Marshals by May 4.
Others charged alongside Elonge include Joseph Onolenga Okamba and Bienvenu Saido Binyangi, who have both pleaded guilty but have not yet been sentenced. Another co-defendant, Joseph Okoko, previously received a three-month prison sentence.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew J. Cole and Nicole L. Nagin following an investigation led by several agencies including the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service; United States Postal Inspection Service; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Waterloo Police Department; Sioux City Police Department; and Iowa Department of Transportation.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, described as “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
