764 extremist network leader Prasan Nepal pleads guilty to child exploitation

Prasan Nepal, a 21-year-old from North Carolina known online as ‘Trippy’, has pleaded guilty in a US federal court to conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child. Nepal was identified as a senior leader of 764, an international violent extremist network that used encrypted messaging platforms to recruit members and exploit minors through grooming, manipulation, and extortion.

According to the Justice Department, Nepal helped establish the group as a teenager and directed its operations for nearly four years. He and co-conspirator Leonidas Varagiannis controlled membership and access to a subgroup called ‘764 Inferno’. Nepal admitted to requiring members to produce and share child sexual abuse material, acts of self-mutilation, animal cruelty, and violence against people and property. He also engaged in the psychological torment of victims, sometimes extorting them to produce sexually harmful material.

Investigators identified at least eight minor victims, some as young as 13, across multiple jurisdictions. Nepal faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in federal prison. His sentencing is scheduled for March 5, 2027.