Two Nigerian men were sentenced Thursday to 210 months in prison each by a federal court in Michigan for their roles in an online sex extortion operation that authorities say drove a teenager to suicide.
Two years ago, Jordan DeMay, 17, was told that sexually explicit images he believed he sent to a girl would be made public unless he paid $1,000 to keep them secret. His death in March 2022 prompted the FBI’s Michigan field office to investigate.
According to authorities, Nigerian brothers Samuel and Samson Ogoshi purchased hacked Instagram accounts to trick adult men and minors into sending them explicit images. The Ogoshi brothers then threatened to send the images to family and friends if their targets did not pay them.
The indictment against the brothers says they attempted to extort more than 100 people as part of the operation.
The two men will serve 17.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to sexually exploit teenagers, according to NBC News affiliate WLUC.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, but the sentence can be as long as 30 years.
The Ogoshi brothers were extradited from Nigeria to the United States in August 2023. A third defendant in the case is appealing his own extradition, according to U.S. authorities.
Jordan was a senior at Marquette Senior High School, where he played football and basketball. He was unable to pay the $1,000 the Ogoshi brothers demanded of him and told him he would commit suicide because of them.
Excerpts from messages included in the indictment against the brothers showed that they responded “well” to him.
“Do it quickly… Or I will make you do it… I swear to God,” the message said.
Jordan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound six hours after he was blackmailed, his parents said. His mother, Jennifer Buta, said her mission in life was to share her son’s story in the hopes it “will save another child’s life.”
“Financial sextortion is the fastest growing crime among our teens and change will come when someone is held accountable for what happens to these kids,” Buta told NBC News earlier this year, following legislative action on the issue.
In May, President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill that requires online platforms to report violations involving online child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
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