Jury convicts Maryland woman of taking her child to Côte d'Ivoire and leaving the child in violation of a court’s custody orders

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A federal jury convicted a national of Côte d'Ivoire on Oct. 1 of taking her child out of the United States and leaving the child there to obstruct a court's orders granting custody rights to her estranged husband.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, in August 2023, Adjoh Dorcas Manou Epse Assoko, 46, and John Franklin Assoko, who were then legally married and living in Potomac, Maryland, gave birth to a child in Washington. Adjoh filed for divorce from John in December 2023.

On December 19, 2024, Adjoh obtained a protective order against John from the Montgomery County District Court on unsubstantiated grounds of domestic violence. The protective order, which has since been rescinded, awarded primary custody of the child to Adjoh and weekend visitation to John.

On April 30, 2024, Adjoh and the child flew from Dulles International Airport (Dulles) in Virginia to France and then to Côte d'Ivoire. Adjoh did not inform John that she was leaving the country with their child and did not contact him after they departed. On May 3, 2024, at the time John's next scheduled visitation window was to take place, Adjoh and the child had not returned to the United States, violating the custody arrangement outlined in the protective order.

On May 7, 2024, John filed an emergency motion for temporary sole custody of the child. On May 9, 2024, the Montgomery County Circuit Court held a hearing on that motion, which Adjoh attended via Zoom from Côte d'Ivoire. After Adjoh refused the court's opportunity to bring the child back so that John could effectuate his visitation rights, the court entered an order granting John temporary primary physical custody of the child.

On June 19, 2024, Adjoh flew from Côte d'Ivoire to France and then to Dulles but left the child in Cote D'Ivoire in the care of family members. The FBI learned that Adjoh had booked a flight out of Dulles for June 26, 2024. Agents arrested Adjoh at Dulles before she could board the flight. Adjoh refused to tell the agents the child's location within Côte d'Ivoire or the names of the relatives in whose care the child had been left.

Adjoh faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison when sentenced on Jan. 9, 2025. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and David E. Geist, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal and Cyber Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff accepted the verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and Cristina C. Stam are prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:24-cr-172.