Jordan DeMay (Photo courtesy of DeMay Family)
(WTAQ-WLUK) — Two Nigerian men have been convicted for sexually extorting young men and teenage boys across the U.S., including a Marquette teen, who later committed suicide.
WLUC reports Samuel and Samson Ogoshi pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one count of conspiracy to sexually exploit minors by causing the minors to produce child pornographic images that the defendants then used to blackmail the minors. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set.
Last year, the Ogoshi brothers pleaded not guilty to multiple counts for their role in an international sextortion ring brought to light through the investigation of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay’s death in 2022.
A third defendant, Ezekiel Ejehem Robert, remains in Nigeria. His extradition was finalized in March. Robert filed an appeal, which a high court in Nigeria is reviewing.
The grand jury alleges that the defendants bought hacked social media accounts and used the accounts to pose as young women to lure teenage and young adult males into sexual chats. One of the accounts used was an Instagram account bearing the user name “dani.robertts”, which communicated with DeMay shortly before his death. After initiating chat conversations with the victims, the defendants simultaneously used Google and other online applications to research information about the victims, including where the victims lived, where they went to school or worked, and who their family and friends were.
The grand jury alleges that the defendants then solicited their victims to produce and send sexually explicit images of themselves. Once the defendants received sexually explicit images, they created collages that included the sexually explicit image alongside other images of the victims from social media, including images of the victims’ school, family, and friends. The defendants then threatened to disclose the collages to others, including the family, friends, and classmates, of their victims via social media unless the victims paid money. The grand jury alleges the defendants engaged in this extortion and attempted extortion of more than 100 people.
Comments