St. Paul Man Sentenced to 43 Years for Largest Sextortion Case in FBI History

ST PAUL, Minn. — Editor’s note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 on June 15, 2022.

Three months after pleading guilty to a massive sextortion scheme, 31-year-old Yue Vang was sentenced to more than four decades in prison.

At the federal courthouse in St. Paul Wednesday, Judge Eric Tostrud handed down Vang’s 43-year sentence. Vang, who’s from St. Paul, was initially charged with two counts of production of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and one count of interstate communications with intent to extort.

“Mr. Vang’s conduct was calculated and cruel. It caused unbounded and everlasting harm,” Judge  Tostrud said.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, from 2015 through 2020 Vang “adopted the personae of real minor girls” and posed as real people to get other young victims to produce and send him child pornography. When they refused, Vang threatened to and did release their sexually explicit images and videos.

“This is the largest sextortion case in the country,” said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Brenda Born.

Read the full story by Alexandra Simon on Kare 11.

Category: Law Enforcement