Hall County Attorney Marty Klein announced that a successful human trafficking prosecution from Hall County was highlighted during a Human Trafficking Awareness Month event held January 13. Klein shared details about the recognition in a Facebook post the following day.
According to Klein, the investigation and conviction were the result of coordinated efforts by the Hall County Sheriff’s Department, with significant assistance from the Grand Island Police Department.
Information about the case is also included in the Nebraska Attorney General’s 2025 report for the Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force. The report states that investigators with the Hall County Sheriff’s Department began examining an alleged sextortion scheme in 2023.
The suspect, identified as Cody Holum, was 17 years old at the time of the investigation. Due to the severity of the allegations, the court denied a request to transfer the case to juvenile court.
Investigators determined that Holum used multiple fake social media accounts to impersonate trusted individuals in order to obtain explicit images from victims. Authorities said he threatened to distribute the images unless victims provided additional explicit content, and in some instances demanded victims perform sexual acts.
The scheme involved repeated incidents and affected at least 16 identified victims, with at least six additional victims remaining unidentified. Nearly all of the victims were minors at the time of the offenses.
Court records show Holum pleaded no contest in November 2024 to four counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of human trafficking. In February 2025, he was sentenced to 80 to 160 years in prison.
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