WASHINGTON, D.C. — Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, who helped launder the proceeds of the 2016 Bitfinex hack led by husband Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison in the incident that drained almost 120,000 bitcoin from the exchange.
Her husband, who'd conducted the 2016 hack, was sentenced to five years last week for his role in the crime. The couple later laundered as much as a fifth of the ill-gotten bitcoin, according to authorities. Prosecutors had recommended an 18-month sentence for Morgan, who was known by her former rapping name, Razzlekahn.
“I am extremely sorry and deeply regret the choices I made," Morgan said during a sentencing hearing on Monday. "I used my time and energy to do harm instead of good, and I’m ashamed of that.”
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia said Morgan's actions were deliberate and involved "extensive planning" during the hearing.
"These are serious offenses,” the judge said. "You were true partners in this laundering scheme … You did not stop voluntarily but stopped when you got arrested.”
The couple was arrested in February of 2022. Lichtenstein eventually admitted to orchestrating the theft, and Morgan also pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Morgan asserted that she wasn't aware of the theft until after it had happened. They were accused by authorities of using complex methods to try to conceal the sources of the cashed-out tokens, including depositing funds into darknet markets, "chain hopping" in converting the assets to other tokens, sending it through cryptocurrency mixing services, exchanging some of the assets into gold coins and using U.S. business banking accounts to seek to legitimize the money.
Cheyenne Ligon contributed reporting.
UDPATE (Nov. 18, 2024, 19:05 UTC): Adds judge's comments.
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