United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Terrell Ashby, aka Jason Brandon, 26, of Williamsburg, Virginia, has been sentenced by United States District Court Judge Gerald McHugh to 36 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release for engaging in a widespread “sextortion” scheme targeting young women across the country. Ashby was also ordered to pay $28,883.64 in restitution to the victims.
In April, the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of cyberstalking (one count resulting in serious bodily injury) and two counts of extortion.
From at least February 2020 to December 2020, Ashby engaged in an extensive sextortion scheme affecting more than 100 young female victims. Targeting women based on their social media profiles, he systematically tricked the victims into participating in nude video chats with him or sending him explicit photos of themselves by promising to pay them $70,000.
However, instead of paying the victims, he surreptitiously took screenshots during the nude video chats. Then, he used the explicit images to extort the victims, threatening to disseminate the images publicly unless they paid him.
Many victims succumbed and paid Ashby anywhere from $25 to $50. After receiving such extortion payments, he continued to haunt the victims – sometimes for months. He created numerous shaming profiles on social media using the victims’ identities and explicit photos. He stalked the victims, repeatedly sending them threatening messages that their “expose” page had been created and would be shared with their friends and contacts.
One of the victims, who resided in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, was so distraught that she overdosed on her prescription medication and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Fortunately, she recovered from the incident but was hospitalised for a period of time.
During her hospitalisation, Ashby continued to harass her, advertising her explicit images to others using various social media accounts. Even months later, Ashby continued his extortion of this victim.
“Terrell Ashby was absolutely relentless in terrorizing these women online,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “It’s hard to understand what prompted, and then perpetuated, his criminal cruelty. At the end of the day, though, we don’t really need to know why he did it. It’s more important to know where he’s headed for doing so — and that’s federal prison for the next several years of his life. That’s a measure of justice for his many victims, but it will never erase all the harm done.”
“We hope today’s sentencing brings justice to the countless victims this defendant harassed, violated, and extorted,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “The FBI and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office encourage any victim of sextortion to report information to law enforcement so we can continue to identify, investigate and prosecute these crimes.”
