Fode Sitafa Mara, 41, a Maryland man who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has been sentenced to life in federal prison after a jury found he repeatedly abused two underage girls while posted overseas. Prosecutors described a prolonged pattern of coercion that took advantage of the girls’ poverty and a serious illness in their family. At the same time, Mara’s attorney insists his client is innocent and plans to appeal.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby handed down the life sentence on Thursday and ordered that Mara remain on supervised release for the rest of his life if he is ever freed. A federal jury convicted him in October 2025 on four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, along with one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of attempted obstruction of justice.
What Prosecutors Say Happened
Trial evidence showed that Mara forcibly raped two girls, then about 13 and 15 years old, at his embassy-leased home in Ouagadougou in 2022 and 2023, prosecutors said, as reported by The Washington Post. They said he used the girls’ economic hardship and their mother’s serious illness to pressure them, provided them with phones so he could call them over when his wife was not home, and sent sexually explicit messages to one of the victims.
How U.S. Courts Claimed Jurisdiction
Federal authorities said the case could be tried in the United States because Mara’s residence in Burkina Faso was reserved for diplomatic personnel, which places it within U.S. special maritime and territorial jurisdiction. The prosecution was brought under Project Safe Childhood, the Justice Department initiative that targets child sexual exploitation cases, according to The Associated Press.
Investigators and Trial Team
The U.S. Attorney’s Office credited the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, the USAID Office of Inspector General, and Homeland Security Investigations for their work on the case and noted that Burkinabé authorities provided significant assistance, according to its statement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ranganath Manthripragada and Brooke Oki, along with Trial Attorney Adam Braskich of the Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, led the prosecution.
Defense Pushback and Appeal Plans
Mara’s lawyer, Robert C. Bonsib, has said his client maintains his innocence and will challenge the verdict on appeal, The Associated Press reported. Court records show that while the appeal has been initiated, the defense has not yet filed a detailed brief, and that the life sentence is to be followed by lifetime supervised release.
Why the Case Matters
The outcome highlights how federal prosecutors can pursue Americans who commit child sex crimes at diplomatic properties overseas when those residences fall under U.S. jurisdiction. Prosecutors and federal child-protection initiatives have framed the sentence as part of a broader effort to hold abusers accountable, whether the crimes happen within U.S. borders or at American diplomatic facilities abroad.
