Ijeoma Miriam Chanthavong of Nigeria was deported last week, presumably ending a years-long due-process drama. We’ll pick up the story three years ago with this September 2023 U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ) press release, datelined St. Paul and headlined,
Two Nigerian Nationals Sentenced in Online Romance Fraud Conspiracy.
The DOJ reported,
Charles Emeka Obije, 40, served as a “money mule” for a group of individuals who used fictitious identities to contact victims throughout the United States via email, social media, and online dating applications. The group pursued these romantic relationships online with the intent of using the relationships to defraud his victims.
Obije’s sister-in-law and co-conspirator, Ijeoma Miriam Chanthavong, 36, helped launder the financial proceeds of these schemes. Together, they conspired to transfer the proceeds of the online romance fraud scams to bank accounts under the group’s control in Nigeria. In total, Obije and Chanthavong pleaded guilty to defrauding victims out of $356,671.
Charles received a short prison sentence. As for Ijeoma, the DOJ reports,
Chanthavong also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit international money laundering and was sentenced on April 19, 2023, to three years of probation and ordered to pay $148,500.00 in restitution.
Despite not receiving a prison sentence, her felony conviction left her deportable. Local Nigerian press reported that she was detained by ICE in early December 2025. Her order of removal became final on December 22.
In a last-ditch effort, she filed a habeas corpus petition federal district court in Minnesota. Chanthavong appeared to have caught a break as her case (File No. 25-cv-4770) was assigned to district Judge Jeffrey Bryan. But even he couldn’t find a path to release her from custody. Instead, in January, he formally denied her petition, but stayed his decision, inviting her to file an appeal.
She appealed the case to the 8th Circuit court of appeals (File No. 26-1178). But Bryan’s action left her in limbo, she couldn’t be deported but she was still behind bars as her case awaited action at the 8th Circuit.
In early July, tired of waiting, Chanthavong filed a second habeas petition (File No. 26-cv-3168), and this one was assigned to a different district judge. That petition was going nowhere when the 8th Circuit issued its ruling, upholding the denial of her original (December) petition.
The 8th Circuit filed their decision on September 4. The DOJ notified the district court later in the week that Chanthavong had been deported on September 8. The DOJ asked the judge to declare her July habeas petition as moot, given her deportation back to Nigeria.
Let’s hope that brings the matter to a close.
Another semi-famous local detainee has found better luck in district court. Back in late June, Ernest Anyere Ngwa, 53, of Cameroon, wiped out three townhomes in Woodbury in an alleged drunk driving incident.
After getting released by local authorities, he was picked up by ICE for deportation proceedings. Ngwa filed a habeas petition (Case No. 26-cv-3470) and gained his release.
These last two habeas cases are among the more than 350 filed in Minnesota since March 25. Nigeria and Cameroon rank among a veritable united nations of detainees,
As for results, releases outpace denials at a more than two-to-one pace,
