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A US court in Marquette, Michigan, has sentenced Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, both from Lagos, Nigeria, to 17 and a half years in prison for their involvement in a sextortion scam that led to the tragic suicide of a 17-year-old high school student, Jordan DeMay.
The Ogoshi brothers orchestrated an elaborate sextortion scheme that targeted over 100 victims, including at least 11 minors.
Using fake social media profiles, they tricked their victims into sharing sexually explicit images, which they then used to blackmail them.
According to BBC, the extortionists threatened to reveal these images to the victims' families, friends, and classmates unless they paid money through online cash applications.
The US Department of State revealed that Jordan DeMay, from Marquette, Michigan, succumbed to the blackmail and took his own life on 22 March 2022. His tragic death underscored the devastating impact of online exploitation.
Background
In November 2022, the US government charged the Ogoshi brothers and Ezekiel Robert, a fellow Nigerian national, with this scandal. The brothers were extradited to the US in August 2023 and pleaded guilty in April.
However, Robert, who is still in Nigeria, has yet to be deported, pending an appeal against his extradition order from a Nigerian court on 21 March.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland expressed his dismay and resolve, saying, "Today's sentencing of Samuel and Samson Ogoshi sends a thundering message. These defendants sexually exploited and extorted more than 100 victims, including at least eleven minors, resulting in the tragic death of a 17-year-old high school student.
"These sentences should serve as a warning that the perpetrators of online sexual exploitation and extortion cannot escape accountability for their heinous crimes by hiding behind their phones and computers."
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The sextortion scheme was complex and involved the brothers purchasing hacked social media accounts to create fake profiles of young women.
They used these profiles to contact victims, gathering information about their lives and the identities of their friends and family. The Ogoshi brothers then coerced their victims into producing sexually explicit images, which were manipulated into collages featuring compromising and personal images.
One of their victims, Jordan DeMay, was extorted for hundreds of dollars. Despite his desperate pleas for them to stop, including a warning that he might end his life if the harassment did not cease, the brothers' response was chilling: "Good. Do that fast, or I'll make you do it." Tragically, Jordan took his own life shortly after.
The trial and sentence
During the trial, the defence argued that the brothers were influenced by drug abuse, a claim countered by federal prosecutors who maintained their guilt.
The court's judgment highlighted the brothers' "callous disregard for life," noting their continued exploitation of other victims even after Jordan's death.
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In addition to their prison sentences, each brother has been sentenced to five years of supervised release. This case has drawn significant attention to the rising threat of online sexual exploitation and the need for stringent measures to combat such crimes.
Furthermore, in January, the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) revealed a network of Nigerian social media accounts disseminating information and strategies for financial sextortion, with much of the content presented in Nigerian Pidgin English.
This finding underscores the broader issue of online exploitation and the challenges faced in addressing it on a global scale.