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A Michigan judge on Thursday sentenced Nigerian brothers Samuel and Samson Ogoshi to 17½ years in prison for their respective roles in a rape case. Sextortion scheme that claimed 100 lives and led to the suicide of Michigan teen Jordan DeMay in 2022.
“I think this case is finally proof of what we can do as a country and give some legitimacy to what’s happening to young people online,” Jordan’s father, John DeMay, told Fox News Digital. “It shows people that (sextortion) is real. I think that’s the most important part of the sentence. It was the last piece of the puzzle … that says, ‘Hey, this is a legitimate claim.'”
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker issued the ruling Thursday morning. This is the first time in the country’s history that Nigerian sextortion scammers have been extradited to the United States and sentenced to prison, the FBI confirmed to Fox News Digital.
After Michigan teen’s suicide, Nigerian brothers plead guilty to planning deadly sextortion scheme
“Today’s sentences imposed on Samuel and Samson Ogoshi send a strong message,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. Western District of Michigan It said in a statement on Thursday. “To the criminals who plot these schemes: you are not immune from justice. We will hunt you down and hold you accountable, even if that means traveling halfway around the world. The days when you could commit these crimes, make easy money, ruin lives and escape justice are gone.”
Nigerian brothers Samuel and Samson Ogoshi were sentenced for conspiring to extort money from minors. (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission)
sextortion one social media crime trend According to the FBI, the bad guys trick victims, many of whom are minors, into engaging in sexual activity or sending money for blackmail.
Totten urged parents, teenagers and “everyone who uses a mobile phone” to “please be careful.”
“These devices can connect you to criminal networks around the world.”
“Don’t assume that people are who they say they are,” Totten said. “Don’t share offensive photos. And if you are a victim, please reach out for help. There are people ready to help and so are law enforcement agencies.”
Jordan Demeye was 17 in March 2022 when Samuel Ogoshi, now 24, and Samson Ogoshi, were 21. Both in Lagos, Nigeria, The two worked together to pose as a woman on Instagram using a hacked account and interact with the teen, ultimately blackmailing him into sending money and threatening to pay him more money, until he took his own life in March 2022.
Michigan family worries about son’s ‘sextortion’ suicide after arrest of 3 Nigerian men
John DeMay has warned about a crime called “sextortion” after his 17-year-old son Jordan DeMay committed suicide after becoming the victim of a sextortion scheme. (Handout)
The same night the Ogoshis began communicating with Jodan via Instagram, the teen sent a pornographic photo of himself to an account he thought belonged to a woman.
Prosecutors said Samuel Ogoshi threatened to expose the matter and make it “viral” online if Jordan didn’t send the money immediately. Jordan obeyed and sent him the money, but the crime escalated from there as Ogoshi demanded more money from the 17-year-old.
The conversation lasted for several hours over a single night, until Jordan told Ogoshi that he was going to commit suicide.
“Good,” he wrote. “Hurry up. Or I’ll make you do it. I swear to God.”
Nigerian men to face US justice in sextortion scheme that led teen to suicide
John DeMay also said that if he had the “chance,” he would tell Jordan “every single day” that the sextortionist’s threats aren’t the end of his life. (Handout)
The FBI More than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion were received between October 2021 and March 2023 involving at least 12,600 victims.
According to the Justice Department, he also targeted 100 other victims, including at least 11 minors, as part of a similar scheme.
The DOJ said both perpetrators, who have pleaded guilty to their crimes, purchased hacked social media accounts that they used to pose as young women on fake profiles, which they then used to lure victims — or, in other words, trick victims into believing the fake accounts were real.
Jordan DeMay began chatting with someone on Instagram under the username “dani.robertts,” who he believed was a woman. (Handout)
He then conducted extensive online research on his target victims, including finding out where they lived, what schools they attended, where they worked, the identities of their family and friends, in order to gather personal material to use against them.
When the victim sent nude pictures, the Ogoshi brothers would make a collage of sexually explicit photos of the victim and threatened to share them with the victim’s families, friends and their schools if the victim did not agree to pay cash to stop them.
However, according to experts familiar with this crime, sending cash does not stop sextortion scams. Sending cash to the scammers will only make them demand more from their victims, starting an endless cycle of threats and a sense of frustration for victims.
John DeMay said that as part of negotiations between the US and Nigerian governments for the extradition of the Ogoshi brothers, US authorities had to drop the death penalty. The brothers also had their charges reduced as part of their plea agreements.
Findings from a survey of 1,631 victims by the Crimes Against Children Research Center and Thorn. This issue is becoming a bigger problem as technology, especially artificial intelligence, becomes more sophisticated. (Center for Research on Crimes against Children and Thorn)
“So, now, when we go to the sentencing guidelines, which is a 15 to 30 year sentence, they’ve already given him a lot of leeway,” Dame explained. “They’ve already given him a lot of leeway. So, that’s where I have a little problem with the sentence of only 17 years, because they’ve already reduced the sentence by 5 to 10 years on the lesser charge. They’ve already dropped the other charges at the beginning.”
Defense lawyers described the Ogoshi brothers as victims, saying that when they were children, terrorists burned down their home in Nigeria. Demeye said their lawyers also said they were consuming drugs while committing online sextortion crimes.
Ogoshi’s lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The sentencing of sextortionists Samuel and Samson Ogoshi ensures that both international criminals will no longer be able to prey on minors in the United States or around the world,” Shevoria Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said in a statement.
“Raising awareness about sextortion is a top priority for the FBI in Michigan. Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of Jordan DeMay and those affected by the criminal acts of these individuals.”
The FBI said in a press release earlier this year that the average age of sextortion victims is between 14 and 17, but the agency said any child can become a victim.
According to the FBI, perpetrators of financially motivated sextortion typically come from African and Southeast Asian countries. The FBI also observed a 20% increase in sextortion incidents involving minors between October 2022 and March 2023.
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Sextortion can lead to suicide and self-harm. Between October 2021 and March 2023, the majority of victims of online financial extortion were boys. The FBI said these reports included at least 20 suicides.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has created a free service, “Take It Down,” aimed at helping victims of sextortion delete explicit images of victims or prevent bad actors from sharing them online. The tool can be accessed here https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.
