A so-called “social media influencer” man who was found guilty of trying and force another person to transfer an internet domain to him will spend 14 years in federal prison.
Twenty-seven-year-old Rossi Adams of Cedar Rapids, who went by the name “Polo,” was found guilty by a jury one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats, and violence.
The court information shows Adams founded the social media company “State Snaps” while a student at Iowa State University in 2015. State Snaps operates on a variety of social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter.
At one time, Adams had more than one million followers on his social media sites, which mostly contained images and videos of young adults engaged in crude behavior, drunkenness, and nudity. In 2015, a Des Moines area television station aired a news segment in which Adams, who in the interview would only identify himself as “Polo,” was continuing to operate his social media sites despite the objections of Iowa State University administrators and the policies of the social media platforms.
Evidence showed Adams tried to buy the domain doitforstate.com. After failing to make the purchase, he drove his cousin Sherman Hopkins, Jr., to Cedar Rapids, where the cousin tried to use a gun to force the owner to transfer the site to Adams.
The site owner got the gun away and shot Adams’ cousin several times and then called police.
Adams was ordered to pay $13,000 in restitution. Adams had court-appointed lawyer during trial, but it was later discovered Adams was earning significant amounts of money while the case was pending. He was ordered to repay $22,000 in attorney fees.