Rossi Lorathio Adams II, or also known as 'Polo', was found guilty for hiring his cousin, Sherman Hopkins, Jr., to break into a house in 2017, according to the US Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Iowa.
The intruder entered a victim's home in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, carrying a mobile phone, a stolen gun and a Taser.
Wearing a pantyhose on his head, a hat and dark sunglasses, the intruder reportedly kicked down the bedroom door of the domain-owner, who heard him break in and tried to hide.
Hopkins showed the owner of the house a demand note from Adams, and forced the transfer of an internet domain doitforstate.com at gunpoint.
The news release states that Adams had “provided Hopkins with a demand note, which contained instructions for transferring the domain to Adams’ GoDaddy account.”
Hopkins put the gun against the victim's head, to even whip it a couple of times as he ordered him to follow the instructions.
However, The victim (listed in the filings only as “E.D.”) managed to gain control of the gun and shot Hopkins multiple times in the chest before calling the police, the statement said. During the struggle, the victim was shot in the leg.
"Fearing for his life, the victim quickly turned to move the gun away from his head. The victim then managed to gain control of the gun," court records show.
As a result, the intruder, Hopkins was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018.
This time, it's Adams' turn, the 26-year-old social media influencer faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
The jury convicted him for his role in the plot after about one hour of deliberating. He was found guilty of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats, and violence.
It began when Adams founded a social media company called "State Snaps" in 2015 when he was a student at Iowa State. The company operates on various social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter.
The company shared controversial contents which angered his college administrators. But it turned Adams into a local celebrity.
"At one time, Adams had over a million followers on his social media sites, which mostly contained images and videos of partying young adults engaged in crude behavior, drunkenness and nudity," court documents said.
Adams and his followers often used the slogan 'Do it for state' when posting videos and images. Adams already own the domain doit4state.com. But to boost his exposure even more, he also wanted to purchase the internet domain doitforstate.com", which was already taken. Adams found the owner’s address through GoDaddy registration records, a resident of Cedar Rapids, court records said.
Adams offered E.D. to buy the domain, but he refused.
Between 2015 and 2017, Adams repeatedly tried to obtain 'doitforstate.com,' but E.D. indicated that he was not interested in selling the domain name, court records said. Adams also threatened one of the domain owner's friends with gun emojis after the friend used the domain to promote concerts, court records show.
At one point, E.D. just stopped responding, to only then replied that he may sell the domain for over for $20,000, a cost that Adams refused.
Adams once visited E.D.'s house. To his brother who answered the door, "I’m here for the name whatever it takes," Adams said, according to court documents. “I’m not leaving without it.” But still he left empty-handed.
A month later, desperate for the domain, Adams took the matter the hard way, and decided to obtain it by force by hiring Hopkins, him homeless and convicted felon cousin.