U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced the arrest of Cross Abu Cole, a 21-year-old citizen of Ghana, on charges of interstate communications with intent to extort. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is overseeing the case, detailed that in October 2022, an individual reported being threatened with extortion involving nude photographs taken when he was a minor. The victim received text messages demanding $200 be sent to the CashApp account “$zettsa,” under threat that the images would be distributed to his Snapchat contacts.
The victim initially complied by sending the money but later canceled the payment after consulting with his father. Despite this, he continued receiving threatening messages from the same phone number. Investigation revealed that some of his Snapchat contacts had received his nude photographs from another account after his Yahoo account linked to Snapchat was hacked.
Authorities traced the threatening messages back to Cole, leading to his arrest upon arrival in Houston, Texas. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer and remains detained.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm's direction.
It is important to note that an accusation does not equate to guilt; Cole is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
