2 Nigerian brothers jailed in US for sextortion that led to Michigan teen’s death

Two brothers from Nigeria accused of blackmailing a Michigan homecoming king – and ultimately goading him to suicide – were sentenced on Thursday in federal court to more than 17 years in prison.

In March 2022, Samuel and Samson Ogoshi, 24 and 21, used social media to coerce Jordan DeMay, a high school student from Marquette, into sending nude photos of himself and then blackmailed him with the images. From Lagos, the brothers used a hacked Instagram account to pose as an American teenage girl and persuade DeMay to send the explicit content to them. DeMay, 17, killed himself fewer than five hours later.

The Ogoshi brothers targeted more than 100 victims in the US via social media, including 11 minors, according to Mark Totten, US Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, who prosecuted the case.

“There is no doubt this case has been a wake-up call for America,” Totten said in a news conference. “To criminals who commit these schemes: you are not immune from justice. We will track you down and hold you accountable, even if we have to go halfway around the world to do so.”

That is what happened in this case. The Marquette County Sheriff’s Office investigated DeMay’s death and issued a warrant to Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Instagram, to obtain a transcript of DeMay’s messaging history in the lead-up to his death. Those messages revealed the ruthlessness of the Ogoshi brothers’ sextortion scam.

Immediately after receiving DeMay’s nude selfie, they threatened to send it to his girlfriend, parents and football teammates unless he paid them. DeMay transferred all the money in his bank account to them through a cash app. When the brothers told him that wasn’t enough, he wrote that he was going to kill himself. Their reply: “Good. Do that fast. Or I’ll make you do it. I swear to God.”