ROCK HILL, S.C. — A man from Nigeria charged in the online sextortion scheme tied to the 2022 death of Rock Hill teenager Gavin Guffey has agreed to plead guilty in federal court.
Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, 26, put his signature on a plea agreement Thursday, Nov. 5. Under the deal he would admit to producing child pornography and to cyberstalking that ended in a death. His defense lawyer and a federal prosecutor also signed it.
Gavin Guffey was 17 when he died in July 2022, shortly after finishing high school in Rock Hill. He was the son of a York County state lawmaker.
Federal prosecutors say Lawal pretended to be a young woman online, got the teen to send explicit pictures and then threatened to spread them unless he was paid. Relatives of the teen were targeted with threats as well, according to the charging papers.
A federal grand jury indicted Lawal in October 2023. Deputies with the York County Sheriff’s Office and FBI agents were among the investigators, and prosecutors in the Columbia-based U.S. Attorney’s Office are handling it.
The production count carries 15 to 30 years in prison, and the cyberstalking count can bring up to life. No date has been set for Lawal to enter the plea in U.S. District Court in Columbia or for sentencing, and a judge has not yet accepted the agreement.
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