Nigerian sprinter GODSON OGHENEBRUME,23, sentenced to 27 months in US prison over illegal possession of firearm

Wednesday, July 1, 2026 - Nigerian sprinter, Godson Oghenebrume, was sentenced to over two years in prison for possession of a firearm in the United States. 

The United United States Attorney Kurt L. Wall announced this in a statement issued by the Department of Justice on June 30, 2026.

The former LSU track athlete residing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison by U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick following his conviction for possession of a firearm by an alien admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant visa. 

He is also subject to removal or deportation from the United States upon completion of his sentence.

According to admissions made during his plea, on February 7, 2025, Oghenebrume possessed a Glock model 43X, 9mm pistol, while he was admitted to the United States under a non-immigrant F-1 student visa. 

Based on the complaint that preceded the indictment, on the night of February 7, 2025, Oghenebrume was in his apartment when an ex-girlfriend, who is also the mother of his infant child, arrived at the apartment with the baby.

Oghenebrume, who had been in the apartment with another young woman, went outside, and an argument ensued between him and the mother of his child. 

During this argument, and while the baby was present, Oghenebrume discharged the firearm. 

Oghenebrume went back into his apartment. Sometime thereafter, Oghenebrume’s ex-girlfriend opened his apartment door and observed Oghenebrume and the other young woman in the living room, and she and Oghenebrume began to argue. 

That argument spilled out of the apartment, and Oghenebrume discharged the firearm more times as the mother of his child fled. 

Multiple bullet strikes were observed in the walls of the apartment complex.

Oghenebrume smashed his ex-girlfriend’s phone and took the baby, who had been present throughout the incident. 

Oghenebrume’s ex-girlfriend then approached the other woman, who was attempting to leave, and asked her for help getting the baby.

She agreed to help and was able to get the child from Oghenebrume. 

When East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the apartment complex, Oghenebrume walked away from them, ignoring their commands, and discarded the Glock model 43X, 9mm pistol into some shrubs.

Oghenebrume was detained soon thereafter. 

Deputies spoke to Oghenebrume’s neighbor, who confirmed hearing shots and stated his ears had been ringing.

In a post Miranda interview, EBRSO detectives asked Oghenebrume why he had shot the firearm in the apartment complex. 

He claimed that he had wanted his ex-girlfriend to go home and that he had shot the gun to scare her away.

U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall praised the work of the United States Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeremy S. Johnson and Lyman E. Thornton III led the prosecution. 

The case is part of Operation Take Back America, 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.