According to Bloomberg, the sentence came after Morgan pleaded guilty in August 2023 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and defraud the United States.
Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, were behind the scheme that laundered millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin stolen from the crypto exchange Bitfinex.
Bitfinex Hacker Admits to 2016 Heist, DOJ Seizes $10.8B in Bitcoin
The couple was arrested in 2022, and authorities later found that they had been involved in moving the stolen funds. In a twist, Lichtenstein admitted in court to hacking Bitfinex and stealing the Bitcoin in 2016.
The hack was a big deal. At the time, the stolen Bitcoin was worth millions of dollars. But by the time authorities seized the funds, their value had soared to around $10.8 billion, making it the largest seizure of cryptocurrency by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The woman who dubbed herself the “Crocodile of Wall Street” and “Razzlekhan” in rap videos was ordered to serve 18 months behind bars for helping her hacker husband launder cryptocurrency he stole from the Bitfinex exchange. https://t.co/mMnNsg3bUC
— Bloomberg (@business) November 18, 2024
Morgan was sentenced on Nov. 18 by Washington, D.C. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The sentence came shortly after Lichtenstein’s sentencing on Nov. 14. Lichtenstein received five years in prison, much less than the 20 years he could have faced. Prosecutors noted that Lichtenstein had been helpful in other investigations, which led to a lighter sentence. Lichtenstein also had no prior criminal history.
The couple’s case started when they stole 119,754 Bitcoin from Bitfinex, one of the largest hacks in crypto history. The stolen Bitcoin has moved around through various accounts to try to hide the tracks, but authorities caught on.
This is Heather Morgan aka “Razzlekhan”. Her husband Ilya Lichtenstein hacked the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016, cashing out close to $71M at the time of the breach (Now worth $10.8B).
Over the following years, Heather and her husband attempted to launder the 120,000… https://t.co/Ut2EMnhiX8
— vxdb (@vxdb) November 18, 2024
The case has shown that crypto crime can have big consequences. While Morgan received a relatively short sentence, Lichtenstein’s cooperation with authorities helped reduce his time behind bars. As for Morgan, her time in prison serves as a reminder that even in the world of crypto, crime doesn’t pay.
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