Former Iowa State student sentenced for role in holding man at gunpoint over web domain

Austin Cannon , Anna Spoerre | The Des Moines Register

A social media platform creator from Cedar Rapids has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after he recruited his cousin to hold an Iowa man at gunpoint in exchange for his internet domain, officials said.

Rossi Lorathio Adams II, also known as Polo, founded the social media company "State Snaps" in 2015 while he was a student at Iowa State University, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday. His followers often used the slogan, "Do it for State!"

Adams, 27, wanted the domain doitforstate.com, but it was already registered to a Cedar Rapids man. Authorities said Adams tried to buy the domain, but the owner repeatedly declined to sell it, according to the release. Adams even threatened a friend of the domain owner with "gun emojis" after the friend promoted concerts on the domain.

In June 2017, Adams enlisted his cousin, Sherman Hopkins Jr., a convicted felon living in a homeless shelter at the time, to break into the website owner's home and force him at gunpoint to transfer the domain to Adams, the news release said.

Hopkins broke into the Cedar Rapids home wearing pantyhose and sunglasses over his face and a hat on his head and armed with a taser and stolen gun.

The victim saw Hopkins enter his home and ran upstairs, with Hopkins in pursuit. A struggle ensued as Hopkins demanded the victim lead him to the computer before holding a gun to his head while showing him a list of demands from Adams which outlined how to transfer a domain name.

After Hopkins began to pistol whip the victim, the Cedar Rapids man managed to take control of the gun before shooting Hopkins several times in the chest, authorities said. The victim was also shot in the leg.

Hopkins, who survived his gunshot wounds, was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in December 2017 to one count of interference and attempted interference with commerce by threats and violence, according to the justice department.

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A federal judge on Monday sentenced Adams to 14 years in prison after a jury in April convicted him of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats and violence. The judge also ordered him to pay $9,000 in restitution and to pay prosecution costs and attorney fees.

At one time, "State Snaps" had more than 1 million users and incorporated other social media platforms such as Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. Most of the site's content featured videos and pictures of "young adults engaged in crude behavior, drunkenness and nudity," according to the justice department's news release.

KCCI in 2015 aired a segment on State Snaps, calling 90% of the content so graphic that they couldn't show it on TV. KCCI's Todd Magel interviewed Adams, who went by "Polo" for the story.

"The nudity, that's what draws the attention, that's what got it going," Adams said in 2015. "I mean, sex sells."