Report: Nephew, Conspirators Hatched Plan to Rob Uncle of $100,000 from Crowdfunding Donations

A Michigan nephew and his four conspirators face sentencing for abducting and ruthlessly beating his uncle in a plot to steal $100,000 he was gifted by crowdfunding for helping a seemingly blind influencer. During the September 2025 incident, the family member and robbery crew left uncle Curtis Dixon tied up next to his burning truck they had torched during the heist. WATCH: Roland Chatmon, 37, pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy and federal gun charges, federal prosecutors in Detroit announced this week in a statement. Leica Lopez Martinez, 33, Ieasha Stroman, 38, and Dneiqua Stroman, 43, face the same charges while Kenneth Anderson, 54, previously pleaded guilty to money laundering for his role, prosecutors said. Federal prosecutors say the conspiracy began in August 2025 when Dixon got viral online attention for offering to help Zachery Dereniowski, a TikTok star known as MDMotivator, who had more than 28 million followers and was pretending to be blind for a video. Dixon, who was financially pressed at the time and was planning to pawn his wedding ring, received $100,000 from influencer Dereniowski for his good deed and started a GoFundMe effort on his behalf. The U.S. attorney in its statement went into harrowing detail as to what happened next: According to court filings and admissions by the defendants during the plea hearings, the conspiracy began in August 2025 after Chatmon’s uncle had gone “viral” on social media after offering to help someone in need. To reward him for his good deed, a social media influencer raised money for the uncle and gave him over $100,000, a new car, and other gifts, all of which were highly publicized. On August 24, 2025, Chatmon talked to his brother, who was in jail, and told him about the uncle. On a recorded jail call, Chatmon and his brother hatched a plan to take the money from the uncle and laughed about it. The plan included several other conspirators. On September 1, 2025, Chatmon and his co-conspirators put their plan into action. One conspirator lured the victim by pretending to need a ride. While the victim drove, Chatmon gave directions by cell phone. After the victim parked, Chatmon and the remaining conspirators carjacked the victim at gunpoint, hog-tied him, and kept him hostage in his own truck. They drove the victim around trying to get money out of his bank accounts, repeatedly pistol whipping and beating him. After successfully making cash withdrawals, the conspirators wanted more money, and the victim offered up a safe at his house with some cash. The conspirators drove to the victim’s house and, with the victim still tied up in his truck, Chatmon and Dneiqua Stroman broke into his house and stole the safe. They also tied up Chatmon’s aunt and left her in a bathtub. Then, the conspirators left the victim on the ground next to his truck and set his truck on fire before fleeing. Later, they met up with Anderson, who helped them move money from the victim’s Cash App account into their own. It took only a month before ATF agents raided five homes across Detroit, Rochester Hills, and Pontiac and took all five suspects into custody, prosecutors said. With their guilty pleas on Wednesday, Chatmon, Lopez Martinez and the two Stromans face at least seven years in federal prison and up to life behind bars. They will be sentenced in early 2027. Anderson, who pleaded guilty earlier, received probation and was ordered to pay restitution, according to prosecutors. Dixon told WXYZ in Detroit he has not recovered all of the donated money and is now struggling to find housing to rent. The discovery a family member hatched the conspiracy against him was a harsh realization, he said. “When I found out it was family, I was so hurt. I couldn’t believe it,” Dixon told WXYZ. “I expected somebody on the streets to do it to me before a family member would.” He also said he was breathing easier after the guilty pleas. “I’d rather be broke and happy, any day. I’d rather be broke and happy than rich and have to look over my shoulder,” he said. Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Masquerade: A True Story of Seduction, Compulsion and Murder, the story of the sordid double life of an elite Detroit psychologist, which is revealed only after his murder and dismemberment. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.