A 27-year-old Nigerian man, Imoleayo Aina, has pleaded responsible in america to expenses stemming from a sextortion scheme that authorities say contributed to the tragic demise of a teenage boy.
The U.S. Division of Justice introduced on Thursday, by U.S. Lawyer David Metcalf, that Aina might face a most sentence of life imprisonment. His sentencing is scheduled for August 11, 2025.
Aina was arrested in Nigeria on July 31, 2014, together with alleged confederate Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, in a joint operation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Each males had been later extradited to america for prosecution. They had been formally arraigned in a U.S. District Courtroom in August 2024. A 3rd co-defendant, Afeez Olatunji Adewale, stays in Nigeria awaiting extradition.
In accordance with the DOJ, Aina pleaded responsible to a number of offenses, together with cyberstalking, interstate threats to break fame, receiving extortion proceeds, conspiracy to commit cash laundering, and 4 counts of wire fraud. The fees are related to a sextortion ring chargeable for the demise of a teenage boy within the Jap District of Pennsylvania.
Abiodun had beforehand entered a responsible plea in December 2024 to conspiracy to commit cash laundering and 4 counts of wire fraud. He is because of be sentenced on June 10, 2025, and faces as much as 100 years in jail.
Adewale, who faces comparable expenses, has but to be extradited.
U.S. authorities expressed gratitude to the Nigerian authorities for its help in extraditing the suspects.
This case is a part of a broader investigation into a worldwide sextortion community. On April 26, 2025, the FBI introduced the arrest of twenty-two Nigerian nationals concerned in financially motivated sextortion schemes, which have been linked to over 20 teenage suicides within the U.S. since 2021.
The arrests had been a part of Operation Artemis, a global effort led by the FBI in partnership with legislation enforcement companies from Nigeria, Canada, Australia, and the UK. The operation was launched in response to a surge in studies of teenage boys being coerced into sharing express photographs on-line, which had been then used to extort them underneath the specter of public publicity.