Illinois Resident Sentenced For Wire Fraud And Money Laundering Conspiracy

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Jalen Jace Cancel, age 25, of Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced to one month in prison and seven months home detention for one count of Wire Fraud Conspiracy, one count of Wire Fraud, and one count of Money Laundering Conspiracy, and ordered to pay $504,948.49 in restitution.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On July 21, 2025, Cancel pleaded guilty to the charges. Between June and September 2023, Cancel conspired with others to obtain money from area businesses through materially false and fraudulent pretenses. According to investigators, the businesses received emails claiming to be from legitimate vendors with instructions to wire payments to certain bank accounts. It was later determined the emails were created and sent by a member of the conspiracy, and the bank accounts were opened by conspirators to receive and distribute the fraudulently obtained funds. Cancel facilitated the fraud by opening bank accounts for receiving and distributing the funds.

The Honorable John F. Heil, III, Chief District Court Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing. Cancel will self-report to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve his sentence on March 2, 2026.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard J. Lorenz represented the United States.