Brothers sentenced in sextortion case that led to Michigan teen’s suicide

Jordan DeMay was an athletic teenager with plans to go to college when a stranger contacted him on Instagram in March 2022 and asked him to share a sexually explicit photo.

But the person the Michigan teen thought was named Dani Robertts was actually a group of scammers in Nigeria. The scammers threatened to make the image public unless he paid them $1,000. Unable to meet their demands, DeMay, 17, took his life hours later.

On Thursday, two brothers involved in the plot were each sentenced to 17½ years in prison and five years of supervised release for their roles in the sextortion case, which also targeted more than 100 other teenage boys and young men.

Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, were extradited from Nigeria last year and pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to sexually exploit teenage minors. Another suspect in the case has been arrested in Nigeria and is appealing his extradition to the United States.

At Samson Ogoshi’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker in Michigan said the Ogoshis displayed a “callous disregard for life,” the Associated Press reported.

“The continuation of the overall scheme even after there was certain knowledge that one individual, the individual in this case, took his own life points to the need for a high sentence,” Jonker said, according to the AP.

Attorneys for the Ogoshis did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In court, Samuel Ogoshi’s attorney, Sean Tilton, and Samson Ogoshi’s attorney, Julia Kelly, said the brothers are remorseful, according to the AP.

The case is part of a growing number of sextortion scams in which would-be criminals befriend young people online and trick them into sharing sexually explicit photos of themselves. The scammers then use those images as blackmail, devastating families.

The Ogoshis’ plea agreements paint a picture of their scheme: From before February 2021 through January 2023, they and their co-conspirators purchased hacked Instagram accounts, impersonated young women and contacted teenage boys and young men.

The scammers used Google to learn about their victims as they chatted with them. They solicited sexually explicit images and used them to produce photo collages that included other images of the victim from social media.

They then threatened to share the images with the victims’ friends and families unless the victim paid them. In multiple instances, they did share the images.

At least 11 of the victims were minors, the plea agreements say. One victim was 15.

Samuel Ogoshi bought the hacked account used to make a fake profile that was then used to contact DeMay, according to the documents. He, his brother and other co-conspirators were logged into the account at the time, the plea deals say, convincing DeMay to send an image and then pressuring him to send $1,000.

DeMay sent $300 but said he was unable to give any more. He then told the brothers and their co-conspirators that he was going to kill himself because of them, according to chat logs included in a 2022 indictment.

“Good,” one of the scammers responded, according to the indictment. “Do that fast. Or I’ll make you do it.”

After hearing of DeMay’s death, Samuel Ogoshi searched on Google for “Michigan suicide,” “is suicide a sin,” “Instagram blackmail death” and “how can FBI track my IP from another country,” according to the plea deals.

At Samuel Ogoshi’s sentencing hearing, DeMay’s mother, Jennifer Buta, told the court that she was “shattered to the core, infuriated and trapped in grief” by her son’s death, according to the AP. She said DeMay’s last text message to her read, “Mother I love you.”

“What I thought was an endearing message from Jordan was his goodbye and his reassurance of his love for me,” Buta told the court, the AP reported. “I would never have imagined that while I was asleep both of the defendants hid behind their screens and tortured Jordan for hours while he was alone.”

Mark Totten, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan, said Thursday that the Ogoshis’ sentencing “sends a thundering message.”

“To criminals who commit these schemes: you are not immune from justice,” Totten said in a news release. “We will track you down and hold you accountable, even if we have to go halfway around the world to do so. The day when you could commit these crimes, rake in easy cash, destroy lives, and escape justice is gone.”

In a statement last year, DeMay’s family urged parents to talk with their children about what to do if they find themselves in a similar situation to their son.

“Our family has forever been changed by this heinous crime, and our objective is to prevent another individual from being victimized,” the family said. “Kids, teenagers, young adults 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.”

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If you or someone you know needs help, visit 988lifeline.org or call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.