The wife of a notorious cryptocurrency hacker who raps under the name Razurkan and calls himself the “Wall Street Crocodile” was charged Monday with helping her husband launder stolen Bitcoins now worth $10 billion. , was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Heather Morgan, 34, was sentenced by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. Days later, her spouse, Ilya Lichtenstein, was sentenced to five years in prison for stealing 119,754 Bitcoins from the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016.
Mr. Morgan and Mr. Lichtenstein both pleaded guilty last year.
Lichtenstein, 35, has maintained that Morgan was not involved in the hack and only helped hide the stolen bitcoins.
At Morgan's urging, he agreed to cooperate with authorities in other cryptocurrency theft cases in exchange for reduced sentences in both cases.
According to court records, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Lichtenstein hatched a complex scheme to launder the stolen cryptocurrencies, using fictitious names and moving funds piecemeal to avoid arousing suspicion.
The pair were arrested in February 2022 at a luxury high-rise apartment on Wall Street, with $71 million worth of Bitcoin stolen.
The digital currency has soared to all-time highs in recent weeks, meaning today's loot is worth more than $10 billion.
Prosecutors alleged that “Bitcoin Bonnie and Clyde” laundered 21% of the coins stolen from a Hong Kong-based exchange.
At last week's sentencing, Lichtenstein expressed remorse for “wasting his talents on crime rather than making a positive contribution to society.”
He was given credit for spending two years and nine months in prison since his arrest in February 2022.
Mr. Lichtenstein begged the judge to spare his wife from prison, blaming himself for her involvement.
“I take full responsibility for my actions and want to make as much amends as possible,” Lichtenstein said, adding that he hopes he can apply his expertise to the fight against cybercrime once he is released from prison.
Prosecutors said Lichtenstein told his wife about the hack about three years later, but initially offered to help her launder the proceeds “without explaining exactly what he was doing.” He said he asked for it.
While Morgan was “certainly an active participant and takes full responsibility for her actions, she was a low-level participant,” prosecutors wrote.
“Neither the hack nor the laundering scheme was an impulsive decision. Defendant (Liechtenstein) obtained access to Bitfinex’s infrastructure and obtained the necessary access and privileges to orchestrate the hack. I spent months on it.”
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