A Nigerian man who helped launder money in the twisted online extortion of a Montgomery County college student — a plot that led the 20-year-old to kill himself by walking in front of a train — was sentenced Friday to five years in federal prison.
Afeez Olatunji Adewale, 27, was one of two men who helped collect money and mask its source while a third man orchestrated the tormenting of Abington native Jack Sullivan, prosecutors said.
The scheme took place on social media in 2023, when one of the co-defendants, Imoleayo Samuel Aina, began communicating with Sullivan using fake social media accounts under the moniker “Alice Dave.” Aina, posing as the woman, convinced Sullivan, a student at Kutztown University, to share intimate photos of himself, and then demanded money to keep the images private.
Sullivan ultimately turned over more than $3,000, prosecutors said, and Adewale helped try to hide the source of those funds, including by having money sent to what they called “compromised American banking accounts” as well as accounts in Nigerian banks.
But on Jan. 4, 2023, only about 18 hours after Aina had begun messaging Sullivan, the harassment reached a tragic end.
Aina reached out to Sullivan to demand more money, prosecutors said, but Sullivan sent a message back saying: “I don’t think I have enough for it.”
Three minutes later, prosecutors said, he walked onto the tracks near the Jenkintown SEPTA station, where he was struck and killed by a passing train.
The case is an example of what authorities have come to call “sextortion,” a crime in which perpetrators, typically based in other countries, strike up flirtatious online relationships with victims, primarily teenage boys. The harassers then try to lure their victims into sending compromising photos of themselves, and go on to demand money to keep the images private.
The FBI says the crime has skyrocketed in recent years, with more than 54,000 cases reported in 2024, a 60% increase from the year before. And authorities believe the crime is undercounted because many victims feel shame and embarrassment about what happened.
The men involved in Sullivan’s harassment were purportedly associated with the so-called Yahoo Boys, a network of West African scammers who use the internet to try to swindle people out of money.
Adewale was arrested in Nigeria three years ago, and, after being extradited to the United States, pleaded guilty earlier this spring to wire fraud and money laundering charges.
In court Friday, he cried while apologizing to Sullivan’s relatives, saying he didn’t know the money he was trying to launder had been collected as part of a sextortion scheme, and that he wishes he’d never taken part in it.
“I didn’t wish for this to happen,” he said. “I’ll never do anything like this again.”
Sullivan’s parents, meanwhile, said Adewale played a key role in their son’s torment, and that his crimes had robbed them of a future with a young man who was caring, curious, and thoughtful.
“He was a beacon of light in any room he would enter,” said his father, Jim.
Adewale’s co-defendants were sentenced last year: Aina, the plot’s mastermind, was ordered to serve six years in prison, while Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, another money launderer, was sentenced to five years behind bars.
In imposing a five-year sentence on Adewale, U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky said it was “astounding” that cybercrimes committed a continent away could have fatal consequences in the United States.
“The damage done to a family by these kinds of crimes,” he said, “is incalculable.”
