MARQUETTE, MI – The suicide of a 17-year-old in a small Michigan town back in the spring of 2022 eventually led local authorities and the FBI to tracking down a ‘sextortion’ ring being ran in part by a group of individuals out of Nigeria, leading to the extradition and indictment of two Nigerian men roughly a year later.
Back in March of 2022, Marquette Senior High School student Jordan DeMay was coaxed into sending a compromising picture of himself by three Nigerian men running a hacked social media account.
After sending the nude photo to whom he thought was an attractive woman, the three men running the social media account exposed their nefarious scheme and began demanding money from DeMay or else they’d distribute the compromising photo to his friends and family.
DeMay, being a teenager in high school, obviously wasn’t flush with cash to meet the demands’ of the blackmailers. On March 25th, 2022, shortly after the exchange with the Nigerian men running the hacked social media account, DeMay was found deceased via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It didn’t take long for the victim’s family and authorities to realize that what ultimately led to DeMay’s death was the sextortion scheme transpiring in the days before the incident, with the teen’s father noting in a later statement that he felt as though the three men behind the hacked social media account “murdered” his son.
“These were adult males, multiple, three of them, conspiring together, working together. One is talking to Jordan. One is building fake pictures. The other is a money person. All of these people were working together that night to victimize Jordan. These three guys from the other side of the planet came into my home while we were sleeping and murdered my son.”
Apparently local law enforcement and even the FBI held similar sentiments to the victim’s father, going as far as to tracking down the three men in Lagos, Nigeria who’ve been accused of running the hacked social media account/sextortion scheme linked to DeMay’s death.
By August of 2023, federal authorities had the secured the extraditions of two of the three men accused in the sextortion scheme, identified as 22-year-old Samuel Ogoshi and 20-year-old Samson Ogoshi. The third Nigerian suspect accused in the scheme, Ezekial Ejehem Robert, is still pending extradition, according to officials.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten shared in an August 2023 statement that the two Nigerian brothers apprehended have since been indicted under charges of conspiracy to sexually exploit minors, conspiracy to distribute child pornography, and conspiracy to commit stalking through the internet.
Furthermore, Samuel Ogoshi was individually charged with the most serious offense, sexual exploitation/attempted sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, which carries a statutory minimum of 30 years in prison upon conviction.
The two Nigerian defendants entered a plea of not guilty and the case is still ongoing.
According to the FBI, sextortion cases like the one that targeted DeMay have been on the rise in recent years, seeing as many as 3,000 minors being targeted since 2021.
Jennifer Buta, DeMay’s mother, has been trying to create awareness of the perverse scheme that took her son’s life, saying in a recent statement, “It’s important parents know that this can happen. Their child is not an exception. If they are on social media, it can happen so quickly. Parents need to let their kids know that they can come to them with anything, and their parents are there to help them and guide them through these situations.”
Back in March of 2022, Marquette Senior High School student Jordan DeMay was coaxed into sending a compromising picture of himself by three Nigerian men running a hacked social media account.
After sending the nude photo to whom he thought was an attractive woman, the three men running the social media account exposed their nefarious scheme and began demanding money from DeMay or else they’d distribute the compromising photo to his friends and family.
DeMay, being a teenager in high school, obviously wasn’t flush with cash to meet the demands’ of the blackmailers. On March 25th, 2022, shortly after the exchange with the Nigerian men running the hacked social media account, DeMay was found deceased via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
It didn’t take long for the victim’s family and authorities to realize that what ultimately led to DeMay’s death was the sextortion scheme transpiring in the days before the incident, with the teen’s father noting in a later statement that he felt as though the three men behind the hacked social media account “murdered” his son.
“These were adult males, multiple, three of them, conspiring together, working together. One is talking to Jordan. One is building fake pictures. The other is a money person. All of these people were working together that night to victimize Jordan. These three guys from the other side of the planet came into my home while we were sleeping and murdered my son.”
Apparently local law enforcement and even the FBI held similar sentiments to the victim’s father, going as far as to tracking down the three men in Lagos, Nigeria who’ve been accused of running the hacked social media account/sextortion scheme linked to DeMay’s death.
By August of 2023, federal authorities had the secured the extraditions of two of the three men accused in the sextortion scheme, identified as 22-year-old Samuel Ogoshi and 20-year-old Samson Ogoshi. The third Nigerian suspect accused in the scheme, Ezekial Ejehem Robert, is still pending extradition, according to officials.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten shared in an August 2023 statement that the two Nigerian brothers apprehended have since been indicted under charges of conspiracy to sexually exploit minors, conspiracy to distribute child pornography, and conspiracy to commit stalking through the internet.
Furthermore, Samuel Ogoshi was individually charged with the most serious offense, sexual exploitation/attempted sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, which carries a statutory minimum of 30 years in prison upon conviction.
The two Nigerian defendants entered a plea of not guilty and the case is still ongoing.
According to the FBI, sextortion cases like the one that targeted DeMay have been on the rise in recent years, seeing as many as 3,000 minors being targeted since 2021.
Jennifer Buta, DeMay’s mother, has been trying to create awareness of the perverse scheme that took her son’s life, saying in a recent statement, “It’s important parents know that this can happen. Their child is not an exception. If they are on social media, it can happen so quickly. Parents need to let their kids know that they can come to them with anything, and their parents are there to help them and guide them through these situations.”
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