4.8 KiB
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| Extremism & Violent Networks |
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2026-05-22 | 2026-10-09 | Zachary Dosch is an Albuquerque, New Mexico leader of Greggy's Cult who pleaded guilty in 2022 to cyberstalking and child pornography charges and was indicted in December 2025 in the Eastern District of New York. | 1999 | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
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Zachary Dosch, alias "Moist Nigerian," is a resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico and a named leader of Greggy's Cult (also called the Cult of Greg), the online child exploitation network that operated on Discord from approximately January 2020 through January 2021. He was born approximately 1999 and was 26 at the time of his December 2025 indictment.
Prior Conviction
Dosch pleaded guilty in 2022 to cyberstalking and child pornography charges arising from related conduct. His sentencing on those charges had not yet occurred as of December 2025, when the new Greggy's Cult indictment was returned.1
Greggy's Cult Methods
Greggy's Cult directed minor victims to engage in sexually explicit and degrading conduct on video calls hosted on Discord or other video conferencing platforms. The group also engaged in coordinated extortion of both minor and adult victims, including schemes to frame adult victims as pedophiles and to send malware to minor victims' computers, using the resulting leverage to compel ongoing compliance with degrading acts on camera. Encouragement of victims to commit suicide and to insert household objects into their genitals was documented in DOJ filings.2
Federal Charges (United States v. Bermudez, 1:25-cr-00361)
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York returned an indictment unsealed on December 2, 2025, charging Dosch alongside Hector Bermudez, Rumaldo Valdez, David Brilhante, and Camden Rodriguez, the four co-defendants named in the Justice Department's release. The case number is 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC). The 10-count indictment charged: engaging in a child exploitation enterprise, conspiracy to produce child pornography, conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography, and conspiracy to communicate interstate threats. The alleged criminal conduct covered January 2020 through January 2021.2
No outcome had been publicly reported on Dosch's 2022 guilty plea sentencing or the new indictment as of May 2026.
Arraignment and Detention
Dosch was arraigned in the Eastern District of New York on March 3, 2026 before Magistrate Judge Clay H. Kaminsky, and entered not-guilty pleas on all counts. The court ordered him detained the same day, and the April 30, 2026 status conference recorded him as in custody.3
The government's December 10, 2025 motion states that Dosch was ordered detained in the District of New Mexico and committed to the Eastern District of New York on the New Mexico matter, case number 1:25-mj-4991 (D.N.M.).4 The same motion states that in June 2021 Dosch was arrested and charged in the District of New Mexico with child exploitation offenses, and that Greggy's Cult is believed to have disbanded at or shortly after that time.4 The December 2 detention letter states that Dosch's electronic devices and home contained dozens of videos of the sexual exploitation of children.5
Footnotes
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ABC News. "DOJ charges former Navy petty officer, 4 others for alleged roles in 'monstrous' online extortion group." December 2025. https://abcnews.com/US/doj-charges-former-navy-petty-officer-4-alleged/story?id=128072704 ↩︎
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DOJ OPA. "Five Leaders of 'Greggy's Cult' Charged with Sexually Exploiting Children on the Internet." December 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/five-leaders-greggys-cult-charged-sexually-exploiting-children-internet; United States v. Bermudez et al., 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/ ↩︎
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United States v. Bermudez et al., 1:25-cr-00361 (PKC) (E.D.N.Y.), CourtListener docket 71984626, minute entry of March 3, 2026 (arraignment, Magistrate Judge Clay H. Kaminsky), order of detention, entry 74; minute entry of April 30, 2026. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71984626/united-states-v-bermudez/ ↩︎
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Government's letter appealing the release order and moving to stay, ECF 26, December 10, 2025, text and footnote 3. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.26.0.pdf ↩︎
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Letter from AUSA Antoinette N. Rangel and Trial Attorney Gwendelynn Bills requesting a permanent order of detention, ECF 14, December 2, 2025. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956/gov.uscourts.nyed.538956.14.0.pdf ↩︎