An Instagram influencer found himself facing the hard rod of the law after he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for concocting a scheme to violently coerce a stranger into giving up a web domain name, the US Department of Justice announced yesterday.
The social media influencer, Rossi Lorathio Adams II, who went by the name “Polo,” ran a series of accounts across Instagram and other platforms known as State Snaps while attending college at Iowa State University.
According to the Washington Post, one of the Instagram influencer’s accounts had gained over 1.5 million followers. The accounts under Adams had been operating since 2015 and had been involved in depictions of risky or sexually explicit behaviour, often featuring college girls.
However, everything backfired on Adams when he became increasingly frustrated and violently tried to coerce a stranger into giving up a web domain name under the name doitforstate.com.
Adams tried to gain control over the domain name doitforstate.com, as it shared a reference to a popular hashtag (“#DoItForState”) on social media the influencer often used in comments and captions to invoke the type of behaviour he would later post about to millions of fans online.
The domain name carrying Adams’ slogan was owned by a Cedar Rapids individual, Ethan Deyo, with whom Adams had no prior affiliation.
The Instagram influencer grew frustrated over not being able to gain control of the domain name which later led him to commit a crime
In two years, Adams attempted to purchase the domain from Deyo but failed. At one time, Deyo offered to sell the domain to him for $20,000 but Adams found the price too high.
Realising that his efforts were in vain, Adams took it upon himself to use intimidation tactics and even went as far as using violent means to persuade Deyo to give up the domain.
According to the court statements, Adams sent a gun emoji to one of Deyo’s friends via text, and also at one point showed up at the man’s door.
Eventually, in the summer of 2017, Adams decided to try more violent in-person intimidation. He hired his cousin, a convicted felon named Sherman Hopkins, Jr. who then lived in a homeless shelter, to break into the Deyo’s home and threaten him at gunpoint to transfer the name.
Hopkins obliged, showing up at the man’s home with a taser and a pistol while disguised with a pair of pantyhose over his head and black sunglasses on his face. Hopkins also had a list of detailed instructions for how Deyo could transfer the name to Adams.
Yet in what sounds like the climax of a Coen Brothers dark comedy, Deyo ended up wrestling the gun out of Hopkins’ hands after being shot once in the leg, whereupon he shot Hopkins numerous times in the chest. Both men survived.
Hopkins was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in 2017 to one count of interference and attempted interference with commerce by threats and violence, according to an article from the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Adams was convinced in a jury trial in April of this year of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats, and violence. He was only just sentenced this week.
State Snaps appears to still be active and posting new videos of drunken exploits. A message for comment on Adams’s conviction and clarity on who is now operating the site was not immediately returned.
Sources: The Verge
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