Suspended Southern California lawyer sentenced to over 7 years in prison for bribery

A lawyer who practiced in Los Angeles was sentenced on Monday, Feb. 23 to over seven years in prison for receiving a $2.1 million bribe while serving as an officer of Nigeria’s state-owned oil company in connection with negotiating favorable drilling rights for a subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned oil company, federal prosecutors announced.

Paulinus “Pollie” Iheanacho Okoronkwo, 58, of Rancho Cucamonga, was also ordered to pay $923,824 in restitution to the IRS and to forfeit $1,039,997...