tl;dr
Larry Harmon, convicted for running a crypto mixing service on the dark web, has been sentenced to three years in prison for laundering $300 million worth of Bitcoin. After assisting authorities and testifying against another individual, he received a lighter sentence than initially possible. Harmon...
Larry Harmon, convicted for running a crypto mixing service on the dark web, has been sentenced to three years in prison for laundering $300 million worth of Bitcoin. After assisting authorities and testifying against another individual, he received a lighter sentence than initially possible. Harmon was also ordered to forfeit $311 million worth of BTC and pay a $60 million fine. The founder of another crypto mixing service, Roman Sterlingov, was sentenced to 12.5 years for similar illegal activities.
A man who laundered millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin (BTC) has been sentenced to three years in prison after assisting authorities with another high-profile crypto laundering case. According to a new report by Bloomberg, Larry Harmon – who pleaded guilty to running a crypto mixing service on the dark web in 2021 – has been sentenced to three years for his role in laundering $300 million worth of Bitcoin on behalf of drug traffickers. Initially, Harmon faced up to 20 years in prison. However, after cooperating with authorities and testifying against Roman Sterlingov, the founder of Bitcoin Fog – another crypto mixing service he was involved in – Harmon was able to earn a lighter sentence. The judge of the case gave him a three-year sentence for his assistance even though he was recommended a harsher sentence of at least six years. Harmon was also ordered to forfeit $311 million worth of BTC and was hit with a $60 million fine by the U.S. Treasury Department.
In a court filing, the prosecutors in the case said Harmon “took full responsibility for his actions, pleaded guilty, expressed genuine remorse, and cooperated extensively with the government,” according to Bloomberg. Earlier this month, Sterlingov was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for operating Bitcoin Fog, which processed over 1.2 million BTC worth about $400 million between 2011 and 2021. According to the Department of Justice, most of the funds mixed through the service stemmed from criminal activities linked to drugs, computer crimes, identity theft and other illicit acts.