In the U.S., participants in a robbery crew that used hacking and home invasions to steal cryptoassets have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 47 years.
At several sentencing hearings in early September, a total of 12 men were ordered to pay over US$8.5 million in restitution and to serve a range of prison terms after they were convicted of a scheme to steal crypto, initially through hacking victims’ phones and email and later through violent home invasions where they forced victims to provide access to their crypto trading accounts.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the middle district of North Carolina reported that, last week, one of the scheme’s leaders, Remy Ra St Felix, was sentenced to 47 years in prison and five years of supervised release, and to pay US$524,000 in restitution after he was convicted on various criminal charges in June, including conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery and wire fraud.
St Felix’s co-conspirator, Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay over US$4 million in restitution.
“Seemungal pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2023, for his role in the scheme to steal cryptocurrency by hacking victims’ cryptocurrency accounts as well as the home invasion and robbery scheme,” the authorities said.
After stealing the crypto, the perpetrators laundered the stolen assets through various means, including converting them into anonymity-enhanced cryptocurrencies, and using “instant exchanges” and decentralized finance platforms that did not conduct know-your-customer checks, authorities alleged.
In May, nine others pled guilty to conspiracy to commit kidnapping charges. They have been sentenced to prison terms ranging between five and 20 years, and ordered to pay a combined US$4.0 million in restitution.
The final defendant, who pled guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy charges, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1.