A 27-year-old Nigerian national, Imoleayo Aina, has pleaded guilty in the United States to multiple federal charges related to a disturbing sextortion scheme that U.S. authorities say led to the suicide of a teenage boy.
The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Aina’s plea in a statement released Thursday by U.S. Attorney David Metcalf. Aina now faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison, with sentencing scheduled for August 11, 2025.
Aina was arrested in Nigeria on July 31, 2024, alongside his alleged co-conspirator Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun in a coordinated operation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Both men were extradited to the United States and arraigned in a U.S. District Court in August 2024. A third co-defendant, Afeez Olatunji Adewale, remains in Nigeria and is awaiting extradition.
Aina pleaded guilty to a range of charges, including cyberstalking, making interstate threats to injure reputation, receiving proceeds of extortion, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and four counts of wire fraud. The charges stem from a case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania involving the sexual extortion of a teenage victim who later died by suicide.
Abiodun had previously entered a guilty plea in December 2024 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and four counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, 2025, and faces a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison.
The DOJ expressed gratitude to the Nigerian government for its cooperation in the extradition process. Adewale, the third suspect, faces similar charges but has not yet been transferred to U.S. custody.
This case is part of a wider investigation into a transnational sextortion ring targeting minors. The FBI arrested 22 Nigerian nationals believed to be linked to financially motivated sextortion operations that have been blamed for more than 20 teenage suicides in the U.S. since 2021.
The arrests were carried out under Operation Artemis, a global law enforcement effort led by the FBI in collaboration with authorities in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria. The operation was launched in response to a surge in reports of teenage boys being coerced into sending explicit images online and later blackmailed under threat of public exposure.
Authorities say investigations are ongoing, with additional arrests and extraditions expected as part of the crackdown on online sextortion crimes.
