Accused Leaders of Global ‘Sextortion’ Ring Extradited to US After Scam Linked to Teenager’s Suicide

Two Nigerian men have been extradited to the U.S. to face charges they sexually extorted more than 100 teens and young men across the U.S., including one victim who died by suicide.

Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20, of Lagos are due in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Monday afternoon.

Prosecutors say the pair convinced minors to produce pornographic images and then used the images to blackmail the children.

One of the victims, 17-year-old Jordan DeMay, of Marquette, Michigan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March 2022.

Samuel Ogoshi was charged with causing his death.

“Our family has forever been changed by this heinous crime and our objective is to prevent another individual from being victimized,” the DeMay family previously said in a statement.

Nigerian authorities arrested three people in January in connection with the scam at the request of the United States.

A grand jury indicted them in May and the final sign-off to extradite two of them to the U.S. took place earlier this month.

“Sextortion is a horrible crime,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “To those who are victims: please know we stand ready to help you.”

“Kids, teenagers, and even adults can be a target of sextortion.  We urge you to have discussions about this and have a plan for your children to reach out if it does happen to them.”

They are accused of buying hacked social media accounts and using the accounts to pose as young women to lure teenage and young adult males into sexual chats.

After initiating chat conversations with the victims, they simultaneously researched information about the victims, including where they lived, went to school or worked and who their family and friends were.

They would then allegedly convince the victims to produce and send sexually explicit images of themselves.

They would then create collages that included the sexually explicit image alongside other images of the victims from social media, including images of the victims’ school, family and friends, prosecutors claim.

They would then threaten to disclose the collages to the family, friends, and classmates of the victims via social media unless the victims paid money.

The extradition of the third defendant, Ezekial Ejehem Robert, is still pending.

It’s unclear if any of the defendants have retained an attorney to comment on their behalf.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available 24 hours a day through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You are not alone.