The government’s answer arrived on November 4, 2026 — and it left little room for doubt. In a new court filing, federal prosecutors urged a judge to reject Michael Eloshway’s latest attempt to overturn his conviction, arguing, according to reports, that he has no case for a second look.
Eloshway, who appeared on the first season of 90 Day Fiancé alongside his wife Aziza, was found guilty in July 2024 on two counts related to child sexual abuse material. A federal judge sentenced him that October to 10 years and one month in prison. Since then, he has kept challenging the outcome.
What Prosecutors Filed on November 4
The latest challenge is a motion to vacate, filed on June 30, 2026, in which Eloshway argues his trial lawyer failed him. According to reports, his central claim is that the lawyer should have hired a computer expert to examine the digital evidence, and gave poor advice about a plea deal.
Prosecutors are not persuaded. They argued that Eloshway has never explained what such an expert would have found, or how a different examination could have changed the jury’s decision. They called a fresh review of the evidence an unreasonable fishing expedition, according to reports, and argued he knowingly turned down plea offers and that emails between his former lawyer and the government would not have changed the outcome.
The Case So Far: A Timeline From 2022 to 2024
In 2022, investigators traced roughly 65,000 files to an IP address linked to Eloshway, according to prosecutors. In May 2023, FBI agents searched his home in Twinsburg, Ohio, and seized his computer; he was charged the following month.
At trial in July 2024, the jury heard three days of evidence and deliberated for just under two hours before finding him guilty on both counts. On October 29, 2024, he was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison, plus fines and a decade of supervised release, according to reports.
YOU MAY LIKESTOP Sharing That Viral Post: The Cruel Jenny Slatten Death Hoax Debunked — She’s Alive and Still FightingTwo pieces of evidence anchor the government’s case. Prosecutors pointed to thousands of illegal files recovered from his computer — one account put the figure at 7,182 files, the latest report roughly 8,000 images — and to a signed statement in which Eloshway admitted searching for material involving models aged 17 or younger. Prosecutor Joe Dangelo argued that Eloshway knew the files were on his computer, according to reports.
The Defense Eloshway Has Not Dropped
Eloshway’s explanation has not changed since the investigation began: his lawyers have said the illegal files arrived by accident, swept in with large BitTorrent downloads of adult material, and that he deleted them once he found them. The jury heard that version at trial and convicted him anyway.
His wife Aziza has stood by him through the case, according to reports — she wrote to the judge ahead of his sentencing. An earlier effort to vacate the sentence was rejected in July 2025, according to reports, making this latest motion his second attempt.
What Happens Next
The motion is still before the court. The filing is an argument, not a ruling — the judge has yet to decide whether Eloshway’s claims about his lawyer are enough to reopen a case that has already survived a trial, a sentencing, and one failed challenge. His listed release date is August 2033, according to reports.
If the judge agrees with prosecutors and the 10-year sentence stands, the harder question is this: after a case that has defined more than a decade of his life, is there anything left of the Season 1 love story that introduced Michael and Aziza to the world — or has the verdict already written its ending?
