Prasan Nepal, 21, also known by the online moniker “Trippy,” of High Point, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child.
“This is the latest victory in the FBI’s work with partners to dismantle the violent 764 network,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Prasan Nepal, a leader of 764, pleaded guilty for his role in exploiting juveniles - not only breaking the law himself but recruiting others to participate in the heinous conduct targeting kids online through sexual assault, pornography, animal crushing, and more. Dismantling 764 and their online network has been a top priority for this FBI, with a nearly 500% increase in 764 related arrests last year with our state and local partners. We are finding these criminal actors all over the country no matter where they operate. Let there be no doubt that the FBI and our partners will use all our resources to protect children and bring to justice those who commit acts of terrible abuse. “
“Nepal used his leadership role within 764 to orchestrate the systematic exploitation, torture, and psychological destruction of children for the twisted satisfaction of an online network built on cruelty and chaos,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “He directed unspeakable crimes and then treated the suffering of the group’s victims as currency to be traded among his co-conspirators. We will not rest until every member of this network, and others like it, are held accountable.”
“This case exposes a world where cruelty is currency, violence is entertainment, and children are treated as targets in a game of domination and control,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “What Nepal and his co‑conspirators built was not just a criminal operation, it was a deliberate campaign to corrupt the vulnerable and dismantle the guardrails of civilized society. This plea is a victory for every child they sought to harm, and a warning to anyone who believes they can hide behind an encrypted screen: we will find you, and we will stop you.”
Nepal operated as a senior leader within “764,” a nihilistic violent extremist network that, according to court documents, engaged in a wide range of criminal conduct across the United States and abroad — including coordinated efforts to exploit minors, extort vulnerable victims, and inflict psychological harm as part of an organized ideology promoting chaos and societal destabilization.
According to court documents, Nepal and co‑defendant Leonidas Varagiannis, known as “War,” served as core leaders of 764 and its inner subgroup, 764 Inferno.
From approximately 2021 through 2025, Nepal and others used encrypted platforms to coordinate the exploitation of minors worldwide. They directed members, enforced “rules,” managed recruitment, and oversaw the production and circulation of materials used to manipulate and coerce victims.
Membership in 764 required prospective recruits to produce “content” that furthered the group’s extremist and abusive aims. Individuals who complied gained status; those who did not were excluded. Nepal and Varagiannis maintained strict control over membership, monitored activity, and issued instructions designed to expand the network’s reach and increase the volume of exploitative material.
Court documents detail the involvement of co‑conspirators operating inside the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. One D.C.-based individual allegedly stored network material on digital devices within the District and participated in conduct aimed at coercing minor victims. Other U.S.-based co‑conspirators engaged in coordinated online extortion schemes that targeted minors in multiple states and foreign jurisdictions.
The stored content included images of the words “764 Kills” written in red on a wall and a video of 15-year-old minor victim standing topless with her breasts exposed, talking to someone on a live chat while she poured bleach on her arm and set her arm on fire.
Federal investigators have identified more than a dozen active co‑conspirators associated with Nepal and Varagiannis, many of whom operated under aliases and interacted regularly in encrypted group channels. Their activities reflected an organized, hierarchical structure designed to recruit vulnerable victims, generate exploitative material, and cultivate notoriety within the network.
764 and 764 Inferno were built on a shared extremist ideology that embraced social collapse and celebrated violence. Members used encrypted applications to:
- Identify vulnerable minors online,
- Manipulate victims into compliance,
- Coerce individuals using threats and intimidation,
- Distribute extremist and exploitative content, and
- Promote members based on the severity of material they helped generate.
The defendants and their co-conspirators around the world used the Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and other gore and violent material to create digital “Lorebooks,” which were used as digital currency within the 764 network, traded, archived in encrypted “vaults,” and used as a means to recruit new members or maintain status within the network.
The defendants instructed other members in grooming tactics and set content production expectations for new recruits. In multiple instances, defendants threatened and caused their victims to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder.
A guide instructing members on “grooming” victims into producing content for 764 and advised members to target particularly vulnerable victims, such as individuals with depression or mental illness.
According to court documents, the defendants exploited at least eight minor victims across multiple jurisdictions, with some content traced back to children as young as 13 years-old. The network’s activities spanned from late 2020 through early 2025.
The guide also provided instructions on “Extortion,” and advised prospective 764 members to manipulate girls and to groom them into providing personal information that could then be used to force them to create “blood content.”
Nepal joined 764 in or around early 2021, and worked with others known and unknown, including Individual 1, to establish the group. After Individual 1’s arrest on or about Aug. 25, 2021, Nepal emerged as a leader of 764 and remained in that position through April 2025.
In his capacity as a member and leader of 764, Nepal used several online monikers, including, “Leather Jacket,” “Rebirth,” “Indras Jester,” and “KingKrampus,” but he was most widely known in 764 Inferno as “Trippy.”
Nepal was arrested in 2025 and charged alongside Varagiannis as part of a sweeping international investigation involving the District of Columbia, federal field offices across the United States, and law enforcement authorities abroad. Yesterday’s plea represents one of the most significant developments yet in dismantling 764’s leadership structure.
Variagiannis is currently being held at Grevena Prison in northern Greece and is expected to have a trial in the next six months on charges related to child pornography and participation in a criminal organization.
Nepal faces a minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. Sentencing is set for March 5, 2027.
This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office with significant assistance from the FBI New York Field Office, FBI Charlotte Field Office, and international partners. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina also provided invaluable assistance.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and James Donnelly of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Shinskie and Janani Iyengar for the District of Columbia.
The Justice Department remains vigilant against the threat of NVE networks like 764 that operate within the United States and around the globe. NVEs often target vulnerable individuals, including minors, using social media platforms to share CSAM and gore material, and groom victims toward committing acts of violence. Victims are often extorted, coerced, compelled, and blackmailed into complying with NVE demands, including self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder. For more information on how to protect children and others, read about the online risks here: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/parents-and-caregivers-protecting-your-kids and the FBI’s March 2025 public service announcement.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
