A Michigan man and four alleged accomplices have been convicted in a brutal scheme to kidnap and assault his uncle, then abandon him beside his burning truck in an attempt to seize more than $100,000 the victim received after helping an influencer who was posing as blind.
Roland Chatmon, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and federal firearms charges stemming from the September 2025 attack on his uncle, Curtis Dixon, federal prosecutors in Detroit announced Wednesday.
Leica Lopez Martinez, 33, Ieasha Stroman, 38, and Dneiqua Stroman, 43, face the same charges. Kenneth Anderson, 54, previously admitted to money laundering connected to the scheme, prosecutors said.
According to investigators, the plot began taking shape in August 2025, after Dixon attracted widespread attention for assisting Zach Dereniowski, the TikTok personality known as MDMotivator, who had pretended to be blind for a video. Dereniowski has more than 28 million followers.
Dixon was experiencing financial difficulties and had been preparing to pawn his wedding ring when the influencer gave him $1,000 as a reward for helping him.
Dereniowski later launched a GoFundMe campaign for Dixon. The fundraiser brought in more than $100,000, and Dixon also received a new truck along with “other gifts,” prosecutors said.
Investigators allege Chatmon reached out to his brother in jail, and the pair devised a plan to take Dixon’s money. Authorities said the two even joked about targeting their own uncle.
The attack unfolded Sept. 1, 2025, when one suspect lured Dixon into providing a ride while Chatmon directed the operation over the phone.
When Dixon stopped the truck, the other suspects allegedly ambushed him at gunpoint.
The attackers bound Dixon and held him inside his own vehicle. As they drove around trying to gain access to his bank accounts, they repeatedly struck him with a gun and beat him, prosecutors said.
After withdrawing cash, the group allegedly demanded more. Prosecutors said Dixon told them about a safe at his home that contained additional money.
“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,” prosecutors said.
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During the burglary, the attackers also “tied up Chatmon’s aunt and left her in a bathtub,” according to prosecutors.
The group later left Dixon on the ground beside his truck, set the vehicle on fire and fled, prosecutors said.
They then met with Anderson, who allegedly helped transfer money from Dixon’s Cash App account into accounts controlled by the conspirators.
Within weeks, ATF agents searched five homes in Detroit, Rochester Hills and Pontiac before arresting all five suspects, prosecutors said.
Chatmon, Lopez Martinez and the two Stromans each face a minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a potential maximum of life behind bars following their guilty pleas.
The four defendants are expected to be sentenced in early 2027.
Anderson, who entered his guilty plea earlier, was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution, prosecutors said.
Dixon said he still has not recovered all of the donated money and is now struggling to afford his rent. But he told WXYZ that the most painful part of the ordeal was learning that relatives had participated in the kidnapping and robbery.
“When I found out it was family, I was so hurt. I couldn’t believe it,” Dixon said. “I expected somebody on the streets to do it to me before a family member would.”
Now that the guilty pleas have been entered, Dixon said he feels some relief and remains grateful that he survived the attack.
“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.
