Bitfinex hacker sentenced to five years in prison
Ilya Lichtenstein, one of those accused of stealing more than 119,000 Bitcoins (BTC) from the Bitfinex exchange in 2016, was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime. Lichtenstein and his wife, Heather Morgan, have been jailed since February 2022 after authorities linked them to the attack, one of the largest robberies of its kind.
Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued the sentence following Lichtenstein's guilty plea. According to the indictment, the man received the sentence for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Convicted of Billionaire Bitcoin Theft from Bitfinex
According to Judge Kollar-Kotelly, Lichtenstein facilitated the unauthorized transfer of 119,754 BTC from Bitfinex. The accused pleaded guilty to the charges.
Initially, the amount of BTC stolen from Bitfinex was equivalent to around US$71 million. But today, with BTC worth almost $90,000, that amount is more than $10.6 billion.
On social media, Lichtenstein called himself a “computer expert”, a skill he used to infiltrate Bitfinex systems. During the 2016 attack, Lichtenstein conducted more than 2,000 unauthorized transfers.
The five-year sentence was in line with previous recommendations from U.S. prosecutors, who had recommended sentencing. The request for a five-year sentence came from the prosecutor, but many expected a 20-year sentence.
However, the judge cited Lichtenstein's collaboration in other criminal investigations as a mitigating sentence. If he had not cooperated, the maximum sentence could have reached 20 years.
This cooperation reportedly assisted the police in several cases, which ultimately contributed to the reduced sentence. The trial was for Lichtenstein alone – his wife and accomplice, Heather Morgan, is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18. In his case, prosecutors suggested a much lighter sentence: 18 months in prison.
Understand the process
After robbing Bitfinex, Lichtenstein and Morgan began using elaborate techniques to try to hide the BTC. These actions included making small transactions, using accounts, names, wallets and even accounts on different exchanges, as well as making transactions via the Deep Web.
Their techniques also involved moving the stolen Bitcoins through gold and other various assets, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). However, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Lichtenstein and Morgan in February 2022 after they traced their money laundering structure.
Federal prosecutors linked the couple to thousands of Bitcoin transactions, finally identifying their perpetrators. After arrest, Lichtenstein and Morgan pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and fraud.