
Nigerian Man Is Extradited in Sextortion Case After Teen's Suicide
A Nigerian man has been extradited to the United States on charges that he targeted a 17-year-old South Carolina boy in a sextortion scheme that prosecutors contend led to the boy's suicide, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.
In July 2022, the man, Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, posed as a college woman on social media and convinced the boy to send him sexually compromising images of himself, the according to federal prosecutors.
Once Mr. Lawal secured the images, he threatened to release them unless the boy paid him, the authorities said.
Within two hours of receiving the threat, the boy, Gavin Guffey, shot himself at his home in Rock Hill, S.C., according to his father, Brandon Guffey, who is now a state lawmaker.
Mr. Lawal, 24, was indicted in October 2023 on a charge of child exploitation resulting in death after a federal investigation aided by the Nigerian government, according to the Justice Department. F.B.I. agents arrested him in Lagos, Nigeria, on Friday, and brought him to South Carolina on Saturday.
He is also charged with distribution of child pornography; coercion and enticement of a minor; cyberstalking resulting in death; and interstate threats with intent to extort, according to a five-count federal indictment that was unsealed Monday.
If convicted, Mr. Lawal could face a sentence of up to life in prison, according to the Justice Department. He has pleaded not guilty, according to court papers.
The public defender's office assigned to represent Mr. Lawal did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Monday.
The Nigerian government agreed to extradite him to the United States on the condition that he would not face the death penalty, said Adair Ford Boroughs, the U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina.
'I hope the message is clear,' Ms. Boroughs said at a news conference after Mr. Lawal was arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court in Columbia, S.C. 'If you use the internet to exploit children in our state, you will be held accountable here in courts. We will not allow predators to hide behind a keyboard or across an ocean.'
Mr. Lawal was being held at the Lexington County Detention Center ahead of a detention hearing next Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Columbia.
Mr. Guffey, who said in an interview on Monday that Mr. Lawal had tried to extort money from him after his son's death, was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in November 2022.
The first bill he sponsored, called Gavin's Law, made sexual extortion a felony in South Carolina. It was signed in 2023 by Gov. Henry McMaster.
Sextortion schemes are a growing challenge and often ensnare American youth. Of the 13,000 reports of financial sextortion the F.B.I. received from October 2021 to March 2023, a vast majority of them involved boys.
Mr. Guffey, who attended Mr. Lawal's arraignment on Monday, said he experienced both anger and relief in the courtroom.
'I don't know if I've cracked every molar in my back jaw from gritting my teeth so bad,' he said. But he said he felt as if a significant step had been made toward achieving justice 'considering the slim amount of people that have been extradited from Nigeria.'

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'I'm not a porn star': 'Diddy' accuser says she asked to stop sex performances
By Luc Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters) -One of Sean "Diddy" Combs' former girlfriends testified on Monday in the hip-hop mogul's sex trafficking trial that she told him in text messages that she felt mistreated in their relationship and asked to stop taking part in sexual performances with other men. "I'm not a porn star. I'm not an animal," the woman, testifying under the pseudonym Jane to protect her privacy, wrote Combs on October 16, 2023, according to a text message she read aloud in court. "It's loveless for me and nothing satisfies you and you always push me to do more and more." The messages could bolster prosecutors' contention that Combs, 55, for two decades coerced women to take part in the sexual performances, sometimes known as "Freak Offs," against their will. Combs is charged with using physical force and threatening to cut off financial support to get women to take part in the drug-fueled, sometimes days-long performances in hotel rooms while he watched. Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His lawyers have acknowledged that Combs was occasionally abusive in domestic relationships, but say the women who took part in Freak Offs did so consensually. Jane, the third alleged sex abuse victim of Combs to testify at his trial in Manhattan federal court, told jurors last week that she was "head over heels" for Combs at the outset of their relationship, which lasted from 2021 through 2024. She testified that most of the time they spent together involved sex performances with male escorts in hotel rooms, even though she wanted to go on dates with just Combs. She said Combs - whose net worth Forbes estimated at above $1 billion in 2022 - threatened to stop paying her rent when she said she wanted to stop having sex with other men. Combs' defense lawyers are due to cross-examine Jane later this week. The trial is in its fifth week. Combs could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Also known throughout his career as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, Combs turned artists like Notorious B.I.G. and Usher into stars, elevating hip-hop in American culture and becoming a billionaire in the process.

Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
US Justice Department reportedly shrinks foreign bribery investigation team
-- The team at the U.S. Justice Department responsible for investigating allegations of foreign bribery has significantly shrunk, according to a Reuters report on Monday. This comes as President Donald Trump's administration reassesses its enforcement of an anti-corruption law that has been in place for decades. The Department of Justice's Fraud Section, which is in charge of enforcing the anti-bribery law, has been reduced to around 15 prosecutors. This is a substantial decrease from the 32 prosecutors reported in January, as stated on the department's website, the report said. This reduction follows an executive order issued by President Trump in February. The order called for a temporary halt in the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law enacted in 1977. The FCPA prohibits companies operating in the U.S. from bribing foreign officials and is considered a fundamental part of federal efforts to fight corruption. Related articles US Justice Department reportedly shrinks foreign bribery investigation team SEC progresses toward DOGE goals, eyes voluntary workforce reductions Trump signs orders to enhance drone defenses, support supersonic travel
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Most Memorable Photos of Protests Erupting in Los Angeles Over Immigration Raids
Protesters confront police on the 101 Freeway near the Metropolitan Detention Center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following last night's immigration raid protest. Credit - Jae C. Hong—AP A standoff between law enforcement and protesters in Los Angeles opposing the Trump Administration's immigration policies escalated over the weekend, prompting President Donald Trump to deploy more than 2,000 National Guardsmen to the city. Demonstrators shut down the 101 freeway on Friday to protest coordinated federal immigration raids that swept across the greater Los Angeles area. At least 44 people were 'administratively arrested' during a single operation that day, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson told CBS News. California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that his state plans to file a lawsuit early Monday against the president. The raids sparked a three-day mobilization against Trump, who said the city had been 'invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals.' On the campaign trail, he has vowed to launch the 'largest deportation in American history.' Recent media reports suggest ICE has been ordered to arrest at least 3,000 people per day. According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), local businesses were looted and vandalized during the unrest, while some demonstrators threw eggs and used incendiary devices against officers. Though the LAPD initially described Saturday's protests as 'peaceful,' the situation escalated by Sunday evening. Police declared an unlawful assembly and dispersed crowds with tear gas and rubber bullets. 'Demonstrators have marched to the LA Live area and are blocking all lanes of traffic on Figueroa and 11th St,' the department said in a post on X. 'You are to leave the area immediately.' The police department did not facilitate any arrests, but spoke about immigration authorities' right to conduct the raids. 'Federal authorities have the right to be able to do what they're doing," said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell. "We don't engage in that activity." Some key moments from the protests are captured in the images below. Contact us at letters@