A man of Russian-American descent, Ilya Lichtenstein, who previously hacked the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and made off with around 120,000 bitcoins, claims he was released early due to a bipartisan prison reform law that President Donald Trump signed into action.
Lichtenstein, who is 38, was initially set to be sentenced in November 2024 after he pleaded guilty to charges related to laundering money and admitted involvement in hacking crypto assets valued in the billions. Following this plea, it was reported that he would face 5 years in prison.
However, late Thursday, his official post on X mentioned, “Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I was released from prison early.”
Lichtenstein expressed through his post, “I remain committed to positively impacting cybersecurity as quickly as I can,” and added some words of thanks to supporters and a challenge to critics, saying, “To all the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.”
A representative from the Trump administration confirmed to CNBC that Lichtenstein “has served a significant portion of his sentence and is currently under house arrest following the statute and Bureau of Prisons policy.” Meanwhile, Lichtenstein’s lawyer has not commented on the early release.
His wife, Heather Morgan, who also has pleaded guilty for her role in laundering the stolen funds, celebrated his return home, saying that the best New Year’s gift for her was having her husband back after years apart. She shared an accompanying photo of them together on her X account.
As part of Lichtenstein’s sentence, the time he has already spent in custody since his arrest in 2022 is included. A search for his name on the federal inmate database indicated a scheduled release date of February 9.
There hasn’t been a response from the Bureau of Prisons regarding inquiries about his status.
Heather Morgan, also known in part as the “Wall Street Crocodile,” was sentenced to 18 months shortly after Lichtenstein. She entered prison in February but posted on October 26, thanking Trump for shortening her sentence while sharing her excitement about being back.
In a light-hearted video shared from her bathtub, Morgan expressed, “Hey Razzlers, I’ve missed you. I’m so happy to be back,” while also giving a shoutout to “Papa Trump” for the reduced sentence.
Trump signed the First Step Act into law in December 2018, aiming to alleviate the federal prison population through various reforms, which for some inmates included the chance for early release to home confinement. It’s unclear, however, whether Trump or the White House had a direct role in Lichtenstein’s early release or his wife’s. Their announcements come after several high-profile pardons related to cybercrime under the current crypto-friendly administration.
In fact, just the day after his inauguration, Trump had already pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the notorious founder of the Silk Road. Furthermore, in October, he granted clemency to Zhao Changpeng, the founder of Binance, who had pleaded guilty to facilitating money laundering on his platform.
