The tale of Rossi Lorathio “Polo” Adams is quite confusing and a bit pathetic at the same time. One begins to wonder why he actually did what he did, maybe, out of frustration at the obstacle hindering him from perceived success or the chance that he could hit fame real big. Whichever it is, he has become a tale of failed clout chasing.
The 26-year-old social media influencer has been slammed 20 years for attempting to steal a domain name. It is said that his reason was to support what we could term as social media’s version of the once-upon-a-time popular series, “Girls Gone Wild.” The former student of Iowa State University built his State Snapss business to close to a million followers.
He had tried getting the name doitforstate.com for the promotion of his fast-growing business, however, someone had claimed it already. He made efforts trying to convince the owner to sell to him without following the legal process. He resorted to threatening the owner at gunpoint.
“The company’s claim to fame was posting risqué images of wild-partying college students on its Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat feeds. Iowa State was not pleased, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office Northern District of Iowa, but Adams continued posting, often using the hashtag #DoItForState.
According to court records, Adams had more than one million followers on his social channels at the height of State Snaps’ success. Though he already owned the DoIt4State.com domain, he wanted to buy DoItForState.com as well. The problem? The URL wasn’t for sale. When the Cedar Rapids-based owner of the domain refused to sell it, Adams hatched a violent plan to steal it instead, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office release.”
In June 2017, Adams reportedly 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 had found the owner’s address through GoDaddy registration records.
Hopkins and Adams tried convincing E.D. to sign over the domain after breaking into his house. E.D. was shot and pistol-whipped but he was able to grab the gun and shoot Hopkins a couple of times. Hopkins has been slammed a 20-year sentence while Adams could get a 20-year sentence as well, along with a fine of $250k.
