3 Nigerian men await extradition in sexual extortion case
MICHIGAN - On May 3, 2023, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten unsealed a federal indictment charging three Nigerian men with sexually extorting numerous young men throughout the U.S.
One of the men has been charged in connection with the suicide of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, of Marquette, who was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 25, 2022.
Samuel Ogoshi, 22, Samson Ogoshi, 20, and Ezekiel Ejehem Robert, 19, all from Lagos, Nigeria, are charged in a four-count indictment:
Count 1 charges Samuel Ogoshi with Sexual Exploitation and Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Minor Resulting in Death in association with the death of Jordan DeMay. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison and a statutory mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison.
Count 2 charges all three men with 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.
Count 3 charges all three men with Conspiracy to Distribute Child Pornography for sending the child pornography images to the minors, as well as their families and friends. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years in prison.
Count 4 charges Conspiracy to Commit Stalking Through the Internet for engaging in this sextortion scheme as it relates to both minors and young adults. The charge has a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.
The men have been accused of buying hacked social media accounts and using those accounts to pose as young women "to lure teenage and young adult males into sexual chats," the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
The federal indictment against the three men can be read here.
"One of the accounts used was an Instagram account bearing the user name 'dani.robertts', which communicated with Jordan DeMay shortly before his death," the DOJ said.
"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 DOJ said.
The men allegedly solicited the teens and young men to send sexually explicit images of themselves.
After receiving these images, the men allegedly created collages that included the sexually explicit image alongside other images of the victims from social media, including the mens' school, family and friends.
The grand jury alleges the men engaged in the sextortion and attempted extortion of over 100 people.
The grand Jury alleged that on March 25, 2022, Samuel Ogoshi used the dani.robertts account to extort Jordan DeMay after he sent a naked picture of himself.
Please be aware that the text messages below contain material some may find disturbing.
Below are text messages the DOJ said were between the dani.robertts account and DeMay:
dani.robertts: I have screenshot all ur followers and tags can send this nudes
to everyone and also send your nudes to your Family and friends Until it goes viralAll you’ve to do is to cooperate with me and I won’t expose you
dani.robertts: Are you gonna cooperate with me
dani.robertts: Just pay me rn [Just pay me right now]
dani.robertts: And I won’t expose you
Victim 1: How much
dani.robertts: $1000
The DOJ said that after DeMay paid $300, Samuel Ogoshi made more threats to DeMay:
dani.robertts: Goodbye
dani.robertts: Enjoy your miserable life
Victim 1: I’m kms rn [I’m kill myself right now]
Victim 1: Bc of you [Because of you]
dani.robertts: Good
dani.robertts: Do that fast
dani.robertts: Or I’ll make you do it
dani.robertts: I swear to God
The grand jury alleges that also on March 25, 2022, after Victim 2 was induced to send naked picture of himself, the following messages were exchanged with Victim 2:
dani.robertts: Pay me rn [Pay me right now]
dani.robertts: $800
dani.robertts: And I’ll end this
dani.robertts: Deal or no deal
Victim 2: I don’t have that kind of money
dani.robertts: Haha
dani.robertts: I love this
. . .
Victim 2: I have $50 in venmo and a $100 cash
dani.robertts: Dude
dani.robertts: Now goodbye
dani.robertts: Enjoy your miserable life
Victim 2: Why
dani.robertts: I’ll make this go viral
On March 26, 2022, the DOJ alleges following messages were exchanged with Victim 2:
dani.robertts: I will make you regret you life
dani.robertts: I will make u commit suicide
dani.robertts: I promise you I swear
In response the indictment, Jordan DeMay’s parents issued a statement, which can be read here.
"Our focus going forward is to bring more awareness to children, young adults and parents," Jennifer Buta and John DeMay said.
"Our family has forever been changed by this heinous crime and our objective is to prevent another individual from being victimized," Buta and DeMay said. "Kids, teenagers, young adults and even adults can be a target of sextortion. We urge you to have discussions about this and have a plan for your children to reach out if it does happen to them."
"Jordan will never be forgotten. He will forever be in our hearts and will drive us forward to share his story and help others," Buta and DeMay said.
The DOJ said that "earlier this year" agents from FBI Michigan travelled to Nigeria to conduct a cooperative investigation with Nigerian law enforcement officials
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a Nigerian law enforcement agency, has arrested the three men who are now facing extradition to the United States to be prosecuted.
The DOJ said a timeline for the men's extradition is unknown.
The FBI has also referred information to the EFCC regarding three additional Nigerian males involved in this same sextortion ring. These three individuals have been arrested by the EFCC.
"International cooperation is critical. In the last two years, this coordination has strengthened efforts connected with the extradition, deportation, and mutual legal or other assistance between Nigeria and the United States involving Economic and Financial Crimes," said EFCC Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa.
"We wish to express our sincere and immense appreciation to the EFCC and the Cyber Crime Team for the cooperation and significant contribution towards the prevention and detection of trans-national crimes," Bawa said.
Anyone with information on a possible sextortion case encouraged to contact their local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or submit a report to the FBI's website.