It was never that serious!
Source: Alex Belomlinsky / Getty
It is safe to say that social media has completely taken over the world! For some people, it isn’t just a platform to be social but a way to make a living! With that being said, some will go to extreme lengths for content and for a way to get paid.
Social media influencer, Rossi Lorathio Adams II, better known as Polo found himself doing the absolute most and is now facing serious consequences.
Here’s a little back story: Adams was a student at Iowa State University when he launched his company called State Snaps in 2015! The company became popular for posting risqué images of wild-partying college students on its Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat feeds. At one time, Adams had over a million followers on his social media sites, which mostly contained images and videos of young adults engaged in crude behavior, drunkenness, and nudity. Adams often incorporated the hashtag #DoItForState within his posts.
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.
The platform Adams created had a growing following and he decided it was time to expand! He had already owned the domain name “DoIt4State.com” but wanted to own a different version, “DoItForState.com”, to push his efforts further.
According to court documents, Adams reached out to the owner of the new domain he so desperately wanted but the owner refused to sell. Finding himself stuck, he created a plan where he would force the owner to sell it to him.
In June 2017, Adams asked his cousin, Sherman Hopkins Jr., to break into the home of the domain-owner — identified only as “E.D.” in court filings — and try to steal the domain at gunpoint. Adams reportedly wanted his cousin to break in and steal his computer so they could change the domain ownership after finding his address using ‘GoDaddy’s’ registration records.
Here’s where things really went wrong! Adams’ cousin broke into the home and kicked down the bedroom door where the domain owner was sleeping. Apparently, the owner had heard someone trying to break in and called police while he hid. The cousin found him and attempted to pistol whip him but the domain owner wasn’t going and was able to wrestle the gun away. He suffered a gunshot to the leg during the mayhem and managed to shoot Adam’s cousin in the chest multiple times before police showed up.
Court records show that Hopkins was wearing pantyhose on his head, as well as a hat and sunglasses, and was carrying a stolen gun as well as a taser.
A news release stated that Adams had “provided Hopkins with a demand note, which contained instructions for transferring the domain to Adams’ GoDaddy account.”
In June 2018, Hopkins was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of interference with commerce by threats and violence.
Adams went on trial last week. According to the Justice Department, after a four-day trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for an hour. He was found guilty of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats, and violence.
His sentencing has yet to be scheduled, but he faces a maximum 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
State Snaps appears to still be active and posting new videos of drunken exploits.
Source: The Shade Room, People, Washington Post
