A Michigan judge handed down the sentence on Thursday Nigerian brothers Samuel and Samson Ogoshi sentenced to 17½ years in prison for their respective roles in a sextortion scheme that victimized 100 individuals and led to the 2022 suicide of Michigan teenager Jordan Deme.
“I think, at the end of the day, this case is a testament to what we can do as a country and some recognition of what’s really happening online for young people,” Jordan’s father, John Demme, told Fox News Digital. “It shows people that [sextortion] is real. I think that is the most important part of the sentence. That was the last piece of the puzzle … that said, ‘Hey, this is a legitimate claim.’
US District Judge Robert J. Jonker announced the decision Thursday morning, marking the first time in the country’s history that Nigerian sextortion scammers have been extradited to the United States and sentenced to prison terms, the FBI confirmed to Fox News Digital.
“Today’s sentencing of Samuel and Samson Ogoshi sends a resounding message,” Mark Totten, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, said in a statement Thursday. “To the criminals behind these schemes: You are not immune from justice. We will find you and hold you accountable, even if we have to go halfway around the world to do so. The day you can commit these crimes, get easy cash, destroy lives and escape justice.
Sextortion is a social media crime trend in which bad actors trick victims, many of them minors, into engaging in sexual acts or sending blackmail money, according to the FBI.
Totten urged parents, teenagers and “everyone who uses a cellphone” “please be careful.”
“Don’t assume people are who they say they are,” Totten added. “Do not share images of the sun. And if you are a victim, please reach out. There is help, and law enforcement is ready.”
Jordan Deme was 17 in March 2022 when Samuel Ogoshi, now 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, both of Lagos, Nigeria, teamed up to pose as a woman on Instagram and communicate with the teenager using a hacked account. had done , eventually blackmailing him into sending money and threatening him with more until he took his own life in March 2022.
On the same night Ogoshis began communicating with Jodan via Instagram, the teenager sent an explicit photo of himself to the account that he thought was of a woman.
Samuel Ogoshi threatened to expose him And make it “viral” online if Jordan doesn’t send the money right away, prosecutors said. Jordan complied and sent him money, but the crime escalated from there as Ogoshi demanded more and more money from the 17-year-old.
The exchange lasted for hours one night until Jordan told Ogoshi that he was going to kill himself.
“Good,” he wrote. “Do it quickly. Or I’ll make you do it. I swear to God.”
The FBI received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion involving at least 12,600 victims between October 2021 and March 2023.
They also targeted 100 victims, including at least 11 other minors, in similar schemes, according to the Justice Department.
The DOJ said the two criminals, who pleaded guilty to their crimes, purchased hacked social media accounts that they used to pose as young women on fake profiles that they used to catfish victims — or, in other words, In other words, making victims believe that fake accounts are real. .
They then conducted extensive online research about the victims they targeted, going as far as where they lived, what schools they attended, where they worked and the identities of their families and friends, all to obtain personal material to use against them. in an effort. them
Once the victim sends nude pictures, the Ogoshi brothers will create a collage of the victim Sexually explicit photos and threats to share with victims’ familiesfriends and their schools until the victim agrees to pay cash to stop them.
According to crime experts, however, sending cash does not stop sextortion scams. Sending cash to scammers will only lead them to demand more and more from their victims, creating an endless cycle of threats and feelings of hopelessness for victims.
John Demme noted that, as part of negotiations between the US and Nigerian governments to extradite the Ogoshi brothers, US officials had to take the death penalty off the table. The brothers also had their charges reduced as part of their plea agreement.
“So, now, when we go into the sentencing guidelines, which is a 15- to 30-year sentence, they’ve already given them a ton of leniency,” Demme explained. “They have already given them many concessions. So, that’s where I have a little bit of an issue with just 17 years, because they’ve already knocked off 5 to 10 years on the lesser charge they’ve already pulled. They had already pulled other charges from the top early on.
Defense lawyers painted the Ogoshi brothers as victims, saying terrorists burned down their home in Nigeria when they were children. His lawyers also said he was using drugs while committing these sextortion crimes online, Demme said.
Attorneys for Ogoshis could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The sentencing of sextortionists Samuel and Samson Ogoshi ensures that both international criminals will no longer victimize minors in the United States or around the world,” FBI Detroit Field Office Special Agent in Charge Chevoria Gibson said in a statement.
“Raising awareness of sextortion here in Michigan is a top priority for the FBI. Our hearts and prayers go out to Jordan Demme’s loved ones and those affected by these individuals’ criminal acts.
The average age of sextortion victims is between 14 and 17 years old, the FBI said in a press release earlier this year, but the agency noted that 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 saw a 20% increase in sextortion incidents involving minors between October 2022 and March 2023.
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 reports involved at least 20 suicides, the FBI said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has created “Take It Down,” a free service aimed at helping victims of sextortion erase explicit images of victims or stop bad actors from sharing them online. The tool can be accessed at https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.
If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live out of state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
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