Fraud involving domain names and their transfers has become nothing out of the ordinary in the domain industry. However, an attempt to take over a domain name at gunpoint seems to be a unique scheme, which is exactly what the defendant in a recent US trial did. Rossi Lorathio Adams II began his career in blogging in 2015, when he was a student at Iowa State University. He created several accounts on Instagram and other social media where he published depictions of risky or sexually explicit behavior, often featuring college girls and boys at student parties, with the hashtag #DoItForState, and called on other users to send him similar shots.
Adams’s accounts grew popular, with one of them amassing over 1.5 million followers. The blogger decided to expand his business and create a website, but was disappointed to find out that the domain name he wanted, doitforstate.com, had already been registered to a Cedar Rapids man, Ethan Deyo. Over the course of two years, Adams tried to persuade Deyo to sell the domain. Deyo refused, but in the end agreed to sell his rights for $20,000. However, now it was Adams who refused, believing the price was too high. He tried to intimidate Deyo, and then hired his cousin, a convicted felon named Sherman Hopkins, Jr., to carry out violent action.
In the summer of 2017, Hopkins broke into Deyo’s house with a gun and a taser while disguised with a pair of pantyhose over his head and black sunglasses on his face. Hopkins also had a list of detailed instructions for how Deyo could transfer the name to Adams. He held the domain owner at gunpoint, demanding he turn on the computer and do everything on the list. The mere description sounds like the plot of a B movie, but what followed was even more epic. Ethan Deyo put up a fight and wrestled Hopkins even after being shot in the leg. He gained control of the gun, shot Hopkins several times and called the police.
Both men survived, and in 2017 Sherman Hopkins, Jr. was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to The Verge. However, the trial of Rossi Lorathio Adams II was somewhat delayed. This April the jury found him guilty, and Adams received a 14-year prison sentence on December 9.
