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Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker who stole billions worth of Bitcoin from the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Washington, DC, District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Lichtenstein in a Nov. 14 hearing <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/individual-charged-money-laundering-admits-hack-bitfinex-2016" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/individual-charged-money-laundering-admits-hack-bitfinex-2016">after he pleaded guilty</a> to conspiracy to commit money laundering in August 2023. In addition to jail time, Lichtenstein was ordered to serve three years of supervised release.
Lichtenstein was facing up to 20 years in jail, but prosecutors had recommended he <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitfinex-hacker-should-get-5-years-jail-for-120-k-btc-heist-feds" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitfinex-hacker-should-get-5-years-jail-for-120-k-btc-heist-feds">serve five years</a> as he had no prior criminal history, gave “substantial assistance” in other investigations and managed to launder only 25,111 Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) out of the 119,754 BTC he stole from Bitfinex, currently worth over $10.4 billion with the cryptocurrency priced around $87,500.
His wife Heather Morgan — also known by her rapper alter ego “Razzlekhan” — is set to be sentenced on Nov. 18 for admitting to helping her husband launder the BTC before they were both arrested in February 2022. 
She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and defraud the US in August last year and faces a maximum combined sentence of 10 years. She has <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitfinex-hack-razzlekhan-heather-morgan-bids-time-served" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitfinex-hack-razzlekhan-heather-morgan-bids-time-served">requested the judge</a> give her time served.<iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/710kWBFxrCU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Prosecutors had also requested a <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/feds-ask-18-months-jail-bitfinex-hacker-heather-morgan-razzlekhan" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/feds-ask-18-months-jail-bitfinex-hacker-heather-morgan-razzlekhan">lenient 18-month jail sentence</a> for Morgan for providing “substantial assistance” to them. They also argued she was a “lower-level participant” compared to Lichtenstein and that she had only spent a “small fraction” of what the pair stole.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitfinex-2016-bitcoin-hack-restitution-us-government" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitfinex-2016-bitcoin-hack-restitution-us-government">Only Bitfinex may get restitution in 2016 hack, per government filing</a>
The two were initially thought to have only laundered the stolen funds, but Lichtenstein later copped to also being behind the hack.
Prosecutors said Morgan was “initially unaware” of how her husband had come to the BTC stash and admitted to her that he was the Bitfinex hacker three years after the incident. She then aided him in laundering the funds and conspired to conceal his involvement.
At the time, the Bitcoin stolen by the pair was the largest amount of assets that had ever been seized by the Department of Justice.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/hackers-crypto-wallets-recover-savings/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Meet the hackers who can help get your crypto life savings back</a>
Additional reporting by Jesse Coghlan.

Bitfinex hacker sentenced to 5 years in prison

Cointelegraph

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