A New Jersey man was extradited to Nassau County from Colorado to face indictment charges of bail jumping after allegedly failing to appear for sentencing on a grand larceny case in 2024 and fleeing the jurisdiction. Nassau County Police Department detectives located the defendant after he applied for a position as a corrections officer in Colorado in late 2025.
In 2022, a Massapequa lawyer was hired by an individual who identified himself as “Paul Gam” to assist in the completion of a purchase of medical equipment.
On October 5, 2022, the lawyer received a cashier’s check in the amount of $84,620, which purportedly included the funds for the purchase and the victim’s retainer fee. The victim deposited the check into his business account.
The following day, the victim transferred $77,500 of the money to another account for the purchase of the medical equipment, per “Paul Gam’s” instructions. The bank notified the victim that the original $84,620 cashier’s check was fraudulent, causing the victim to suffer a loss of $77,500.
Financial records showed that the money was transferred into Osokam Ekufia’s account and that he had subsequently withdrawn the funds.
Ekufia was indicted and arraigned on October 19, 2023, on one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, a Class C felony.
On April 9, 2024, Ekufia entered into a plea to a lesser included charge of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree, a Class E felony, and was ordered by the court to make substantial upfront restitution of $50,000 within six months of the plea or be sentenced to one to three years in jail. The defendant was also directed by the court to return for sentencing on October 15, 2024.
Ekufia only turned over $10,000 of the restitution required in the time allotted, and pursuant to the agreement, was expected to serve his sentence. The defendant allegedly failed to appear for sentencing, and the court issued a warrant for the defendant’s arrest.
In October 2025, Ekufia was indicted by a grand jury for Bail Jumping in the Second Degree. That same month, the Nassau County Police Department was contacted by the Colorado Department of Corrections Background Investigations Unit inquiring about Ekufia.
The defendant’s outstanding warrant was revealed during a background check process after Ekufia applied for a position with the department as a corrections officer.
Ekufia was arrested by Colorado law enforcement authorities on March 20, 2026. He was extradited to Nassau County on April 12, 2026.
Ekufia, 48, was arraigned on April 13, 2026 before Judge Helene Gugerty on a grand jury indictment charge of Bail Jumping in the Second Degree (a Class E felony). Ekufia pleaded not guilty and was remanded. He is due back in court on June 5, 2026. If convicted of this charge, the defendant faces up to 1-1/3 to four years in prison.
“This defendant should have been occupying a jail cell, not applying for a job to patrol them,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “Osokam Ekufia deliberately and knowingly entered into a plea agreement that could have meant jail time if he did not deliver on the promised restitution. When he came up short, he allegedly skipped town and tried to escape accountability altogether.”
After being caught by the authorities in Colorado after applying for a correction officer job, “he did not bank on an active arrest warrant and the multi-state cooperation of law enforcement,” Donnelly said. “Now, Ekufia’s criminal cases have doubled, and he may find himself on the other side of those steel bars.”