A Huntsville man is one of five arrested yesterday on federal money laundering charges connected to an online extortion scheme prosecutors say that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old Michigan high school student.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten Friday announced five indictments for conspiracy to commit money laundering, which included Dinsimore Guyton Robinson, 30, of Huntsville.

Also charged were Johnathan Demetrius Green, 32, and Brian Keith Coldmon, Jr., 30, both of Stone Mountain, Ga.; Jarell Daivon Williams, 31, of McDonough, Ga., and Kendall Ormond London, Jr., 32, of Lithonia, Ga.

The indictments are connected to a November 2022 case where three Nigerian nationals were charged. Prosecutors said those men pretended to be a young woman through social media accounts and targeted more than 100 teenage boys and young men, encouraging them to engage in sexually explicit conduct and produce images.

Once the images were sent, they used them to blackmail the victims for money, threatening to send the images to others, including family, friends and classmates of the victims. The extortionists instructed their victims to send money to designated financial accounts through various cash applications.

According to prosecutors, the five men charged Thursday acted as money launderers by controlling the extortioners’ designated financial accounts. They would keep about 20% of the funds and then convert the rest into bitcoin. The defendants would then send the bitcoin to an unindicted Nigerian co-conspirator, whom they referred to as “The Plug.”

The indictment alleges that the U.S.-based defendants laundered at least $178,658 in funds representing the proceeds of the scheme.

The extortion resulted in the death of Jordan DeMay, a 17-year-old high school student from Marquette, Mich.

“Every day Americans fall victim to financial scams, including sextortion, romance scams, and consumer fraud,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said. “Senior citizens, children, and teenagers are especially vulnerable. The result of these crimes can be devastating, as the death of Jordan DeMay makes painfully clear. Today’s charges send a loud and clear message that we will chase down everyone who enables these crimes, including the U.S.-based money launderers.”