Nigerian Sentenced To Life In Prison For Attempting To Murder A US Judge

A Federal judge yesterday sentenced 31-year-old Chimene Hamilton Onyeri a Nigerian, to life in federal prison for his leadership role in carrying out fraud and racketeering schemes that involved the attempted capital murder of State District Court Judge Julie Kocurek in November of 2015.

That announcement was made by U.S. Attorney John F. Bash; Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore; FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs; Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Goss, Houston Field Office; Austin Police Chief Brian Manley; and, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Inspector in Charge Adrian Gonzalez, Houston Division.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ordered Onyeri to pay $178,374.41 restitution.


“Today’s life sentence for Mr. Onyeri was about more than obtaining a measure of justice for Judge Kocurek—although we certainly did that.  It was also about safeguarding the integrity of our judicial system.  This office, along with our federal, state, and local law-enforcement partners, will be absolutely relentless in pursuing those who attack or threaten judges or court staff.  Impartial, fearless judges are key to the rule of law.  Today the rule of law was vindicated,” stated U.S. Attorney Bash.