2 Nigerians extradited to face trial on sextortion charges linked to Michigan teen's death

Two men have been extradited from Nigeria to the United States after being accused of sexually extorting more than 100 young men and teenage boys, federal prosecutors said Sunday.

Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20, of Lagos, Nigeria, were charged in a four count indictment in connection to the crimes that took place beginning some time prior to February 2021 through at least May 2022, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Michigan.

Both men stand accused of running an international sextortion ring in which they posed as a woman. Prosecutors said the scheme later resulted in the death of Jordan DeMay of Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

DeMay, who was 17, died from a self-inflicted gunshot on March 25, 2022.

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More than 100 teens, young men sextorted

Both men face one count of conspiracy to sexually exploit minors, one count of conspiracy to distribute child pornography and one count of conspiracy to commit stalking through the internet.

Samuel Ogoshi also faces one count of charges of sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death and one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death.

In the indictment, a grand jury alleged the men engaged in this extortion and attempted extortion of more than 100 people.

"Sextortion is a horrible crime,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in the release. “To those who commit these crimes: we will pursue you around the world. And to those who are victims: please know we stand ready to help you. I am extremely pleased with how swiftly extradition efforts moved forward and am grateful to the FBI and our Nigerian law enforcement partners for their unyielding work to secure justice in this international sexual exploitation investigation.”

Nigerian authorities arrested Samuel and Samson Ogoshi in Nigeria in January 2023, at the request of the U.S., prosecutors said. They were indicted in May.

Both men were expected to appear in court for their initial appearance on Monday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Grand Rapids. A third co-defendant is also named in the case, Ezekial Ejehem Robert.

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Hacked social media accounts

According to the indictment, the defendants bought hacked social media accounts and used the accounts to pose as young women to lure teen and young adult males into sex chats.

"One of the accounts used was an Instagram account bearing the username “dani.robertts”, which communicated with Jordan DeMay shortly before his death," prosecutors wrote in the release. "After initiating chat conversations with the victims, the defendants simultaneously used Google and other online applications to research information about the victims, including where the victims lived, where they went to school or worked, and who their family and friends were."

'All you've to do is cooperate'

In the indictment, prosecutors wrote, Samuel and Samson Ogoshi asked their victims to take sexual photos of themselves and send them to the defendants.

Once the defendants received the images, they made collages with the images and other images of the victims from social media, including photos of the victims’ school, family and friends, the indictment continues.

The defendants, the indictment shows, then threatened to share the collages to the victim's friends and family through social media unless the victims paid them money.

Both the Ogoshis and Robert "used and shared scripts and ideas of how to extort money from the victims, including but not limited to, the following:"

"Hey I have screenshot all ur followers and tags and those that comment on ur post. I can send this nudes to everyone and also send your nudes Until it goes viral….All you’ve to do is to cooperate with me and I will not expose you," the indictment reads.

Prior to DeMay's death, the indictment continues, after he paid the defendants $300 but was told it was not enough, the following exchange of messages with the defendants took place:

a. dani.robertts: “Goodbye”b. dani.robertts: “Enjoy your miserable life”c. Victim 1: “I’m kms rn” [“I’m kill myself right now”]d. Victim 1: “Bc of you” [“Because of you”]e. dani.robertts: “Good”f. dani.robertts: “Do that fast”g. dani.robertts: “Or I’ll make you do it”h. dani.robertts: “I swear to God."

Extradition for Robert was still pending, prosecutors said Sunday.

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Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nigerians to face US sextortion charges linked to Jordan DeMay death