A United States District Court has sentenced a 21-year-old Ghanaian national, Cross Abu Cole, to time already served—approximately seven months in custody—after finding him guilty of using interstate communications to extort a victim.

The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo in Buffalo, New York, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, Michael DiGiacomo. Following the ruling, Cole was transferred into the custody of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Court documents presented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango revealed that the offence dates back to October 30, 2022. Investigations established that Cole unlawfully gained access to a Snapchat account belonging to an individual referred to in court as “the Victim.”

After obtaining nude images stored on the account, Cole allegedly contacted the Victim using a Google Voice phone number and demanded a payment of $200. Prosecutors said he threatened to release the private images to the Victim’s family and friends if the demand was not met, an act described as sextortion.

Although the Victim initially sent the $200 through CashApp as instructed, the transaction was later cancelled. Despite this, the Victim subsequently discovered that some of his Snapchat contacts had already received the compromising photographs.

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the supervision of Special Agent in Charge Philip Tejera.

While U.S. authorities have not provided details on any pending immigration or removal proceedings, they confirmed that Cole has been placed under the authority of the Department of Homeland Security after completing his custodial sentence.