Social Media Influencer Receives 14 Years In Prison After Plotting Attack On Man Over A Website Domain

A social media influencer’s plot to scare a man into changing his domain name backfired when his target got over on his gunman. Now, he and the gunman will be serving more than 10 years in prison.

On Monday, a judged sentenced 27-year-old Rossi Lorathio Adams II from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to 14 years in prison after he was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats, and violence, according to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.

According to CNN, Adams, who is also known as “Polo,” founded a social media company called “State Snaps” back in 2015 when he was enrolled in Iowa State University. Adams gained over a million followers on all his social media platforms including, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. The site included video and photos of “young adults engaged in crude behavior, drunkenness, and nudity,” according to the statement. Followers of State Snaps used the slogan “Do It For State,” and Adams was looking to purchase the internet domain doitforstate.com to expand his company, the statement said.

Adams reportedly tried to convince a Cedar Rapids resident, who the name was registered to on GoDaddy.com, to sell it to him several times between 2015 and 2017. Things went from clean business to dirty in June 2017. That’s when Adams drove his cousin, Sherman Hopkins Jr., to the domain owner’s home. Hopkins, who is a convicted felon, broke into the man’s home with a cell phone, stolen gun, and taser, with his face covered by pantyhose and sunglasses. He also came equipped with a note from Adams with directions on how to transfer the domain name.

Hopkins aimed the gun at the man’s head and pistol-whipped him several times until the man eventually gained control over the gun. The man was shot in the leg during the struggle before he shot Hopkins multiple times in the chest and then called the police, according to the statement. Hopkins survived and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Adams was convicted in April and was sentenced to 168 months in federal prison on Monday by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. He has been ordered to pay $9,000 in restitution, nearly $4,000 or prosecution costs, and $22,000 in attorney fees as part of his sentence.