A Virginia man has been handed a three-year prison term for running a sextortion scheme that held sway over the lives of more than 100 young women across the nation. Terrell Ashby, also known under the pseudonym "Jason Brandon," was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Gerald McHugh. The 26-year-old Williamsburg resident's conviction also includes three years of supervised release and an order to pay restitution to his victims amounting to $28,883.64, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Ashby engaged in his crimes from at least February 2020 to December 2020, deliberately targeting young women based on their profiles on social media platforms. Offering a false promise of payment for nude video chats or explicit photos, he would instead to surreptitiously screenshot the interactions and then use what he had captured to extort money from his victims. The women, who were threatened with their explicit images being made public, paid Ashby sums ranging from $25 to $50.
But the financial toll was just a fraction of the cost. Ashby continued to plague his victims with harassment, going as far as creating social media profiles to shame them with the explicit content he had acquired. The consequences of his actions reached a troubling peak when one victim in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania overdosed on prescription medication in despair. As she fought for her life in a hospital bed, Ashby continued to exploit her explicit images to ensnare others in his malicious scheme, even during her hospitalization.
"Terrell Ashby was absolutely relentless in terrorizing these women online," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said, laying bare the grievousness of his conduct. "It’s hard to understand what prompted, and then perpetuated, his criminal cruelty." Romero further added, "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." This statement, sourced by the official announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case was the result of a thorough investigation by the Philadelphia FBI, with Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Wolfe leading the prosecution. Support also came from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.
