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Two men have been extradited from Nigeria regarding the "sextortion" case that resulted in the March 25, 2022, death of a Marquette Senior High School student, Jordan DeMay.
Many people might have thought those extraditions were a long shot.
Mark Totten, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan, and Devin Kowalski, acting special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan, announced the extraditions Sunday at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.
Sextortion refers to the practice of extorting money or sexual favors from someone by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity. It's one of the unfortunate effects of an increasingly digital world.
Totten said Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20, both of Lagos, Nigeria, arrived at the airport Sunday morning.
On May 3, Totten announced indictments for the Ogoshis as well as Ezekiel Ejehem Robert, 19, also of Lagos. Officials close to the case are confident that Robert will be extradited soon.
Kowalski said that less than a week after DeMay's death, the FBI office in Marquette opened a case on a then-unknown user who had been extorting DeMay. This investigation involved identifying hundreds of victims, following the digital footprints left behind by the sextortionists, tracking payments made by victims through multiple financial entities and working with Nigerian law enforcement.
Kowalski stressed that charges of this type brought against subjects outside the United States are rare, and securing extradition of these subjects is even rarer.
Fortunately, law enforcement from multiple agencies in the U.S. got help from Nigeria.
At a Sunday news conference, Totten and Kowalski extended their appreciation and thanks to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian Attorney General's Office-Ministry of Justice, and all other involved Nigerian authorities for their important partnership in this case. They also thanked a long list of Nigerian partners and institutions for their assistance with this case: Acting Executive Chairman Abdulkarim Chukkol, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; Assistant Director Antoinette Oche-Obe, Central Authority Unit, International Cooperation Department, Office of the Attorney General-Ministry of Justice; Principal State Counsel Pius Akutah, Central Authority Unit, International Cooperation Department, Office of the Attorney General-Ministry of Justice; Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Justice, Nigeria's EFCC; and the Central Authority Unit, International Cooperation Department of the Nigerian Office of the Attorney General-Ministry of Justice.
Of course, the DeMay family should be commended for bringing the painful subject to the public's notice after DeMay's tragic death. They didn't have to make his identity known, but they wanted people to be aware of the horrible crime of sextortion.
We agree that public awareness and education is crucial. No one who is a victim of sextortion should be afraid to come forward to a trusted adult or law enforcement agency.
Individuals may contact the FBI at 800-CALL-FBI or report a crime at tips.fbi.gov if they know of a possible sextortion offense.
Although we are pleased the suspects were extradited -- and they are innocent until proven guilty -- we want the offenses to stop in the first place.