Nigerian brothers get 17 years in US prison after sextortion, victim’s suicide

A United States court has sentenced two Nigerian brothers, who targeted 17-year-old Jordan DeMay in an extortion scam, to 17 years and six months in prison.

Prosecutors say Samuel, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21, sent DeMay a friend request on Instagram, pretended to be a girl his age and flirted with him.

The brothers tried to get DeMay to send them explicit photos and threatened to show the photos to his friends if he didn’t send them money.

Jordan sent as much money as he could and begged the scammers, threatening to commit suicide if they distributed the images.

“Good… Do it quickly, or I will make you do it,” the brothers replied.

The 17-year-old high school student committed suicide less than six hours after they connected on Instagram.

The deceased’s father, John DeMay, told the federal court in Marquette, Michigan, that he still has nightmares after finding his son dead in his bedroom.

He said the family moved out of the house to escape the memory.

In a statement Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said more than 100 victims, including at least 11 minors, have fallen victim to the brothers’ scam.

READ ALSO: Three Nigerian nationals await extradition to US for sex extortion that led to suicide of 17-year-old boy

“These sentences should serve as a warning that perpetrators of online sexual exploitation and extortion cannot escape accountability for their heinous crimes by hiding behind their phones and computers,” Garland said.

“The Department of Justice will find them wherever they are, and we will bring them to justice in the United States.”

At the sentencing, both brothers apologized to DeMay’s family.

“I’m sorry for the family. We made a bad decision to make money, and I wish I could change that,” Samson said.

According to their defense lawyers, the brothers’ crimes were fueled by drug abuse and the culture of sextortion scams in Nigeria.

The judge said the crimes showed a “callous disregard for life,” especially since they continued to target other victims even after learning of DeMay’s death.

The brothers were extradited to the US in August last year, where they will face numerous counts of sexual extortion against young men and teenage boys on social media linked to them.

In April, they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sexually exploit teenage boys in Michigan and throughout the United States.

Recall that Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, said in July that it had removed 63,000 accounts in Nigeria linked to sextortion scams.