A Goose That Laid Golden Eggs
Ethan Deyo, 26, was confronted by a midday home-invasion robber at his Cedar Rapids, Iowa, home. But the alleged robber, Sherman Hopkins, 43, wasn’t after cash or jewels. Hopkins “forced Deyo to log on to his computer and tried to coerce Deyo to transfer a[n Internet] domain name” to a third party, investigators say. Deyo resisted and, in the struggle, was shot in the leg. He was still able to get Hopkins’ gun away from him; Deyo shot Hopkins twice, which then enabled him to call for help. Hopkins was treated at a hospital, then released to the county jail pending multiple charges that could lead to life in prison. “This domain name is valuable,” said Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman Greg Buelow, but he wouldn’t say what the domain name is, or what made it so valuable. (RC/Cedar Rapids Gazette) ...Obliviot.com, which is the gateway to learning the value of thinking.Story Update: In June 2018, Hopkins was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. The domain name came out during the trial: DoItForState.com — a reference to a meme at Iowa State University where students are supposed to shout “Do it for State!” when watching others do things they’d certainly regret. Too bad it turned out to be a federal rap: he really deserves to be in the State penitentiary!
But Hopkins was just a hired gun: his cousin, Instagram “influencer” Rossi Lorathio Adams II, 27 (as of 2019), is the one who wanted the domain — the third party involved. In April 2019, Adams was convicted by a jury of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by force, threats, and violence, and was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
As for obliviot.com, I own that one.
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 24.
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