US prosecutors have told a judge that the mastermind behind the Bitfinex exchange hack should receive five years in prison.
Ilya Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty last year after stealing 120,000 Bitcoin,
According to
Last week, federal prosecutors recommended that Morgan receive an
Prosecutors argued that a stronger sentence for Lichtenstein would help deter young cybercriminals from attempting the same thing. According to them, this online activity is “normalized in a way that trivializes the impact on the victims.”
By giving a tougher sentence, prosecutors believe it will “help to break this cycle.”
While it was initially believed that both of them were involved in the exchange’s hack, Lichtenstein was identified as the primary person responsible.
It was only in 2020 that Morgan found out about what her husband had done and admitted to helping him hide the stolen crypto. Following the hack, Lichtenstein transferred around 120,000 Bitcoin into a self-custody wallet under his control.
Over the next few years, he withdrew 25,000 Bitcoin, laundering the stolen funds through darknet markets, non-compliant virtual currency exchanges, and mixers and tumblers, including Bitcoin Fog, Helix, and ChipMixer.
With Morgan’s help, the pair used the stolen funds to buy nonfungible tokens (NFTs), gold, and Walmart gift cards.
Prosecutors have not pushed the judge to give Lichtenstein the maximum sentence due to his assistance in other criminal cases. For instance, in February,
The pair are scheduled to be sentenced in November.
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