United States prosecutors are pushing for a five-year prison term for the individual who confessed to stealing 120,000 bitcoin (BTC) from the crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016.
At the time of the hack, Ilya Lichtenstein’s stolen bitcoin was worth approximately $70 million. He committed the exploit on Bitfinex, conducting over 2,000 unauthorized transactions to transfer the crypto asset into his possession.
The stolen BTC is currently worth over $10.5 billion due to the rise in the price of bitcoin.
A Prison Sentence
According to a CNBC report, prosecutors informed a Federal Court in Washington, DC, that Lichtenstein should receive a sentence shorter than the 20 years he initially faced after admitting guilt to one count of conspiring to engage in money laundering.
They contended that a reduced sentence was justified due to his lack of prior criminal record and cooperation, which has helped several investigations.
The report also noted that prosecutors requested the court sentence Heather Morgan, Lichtenstein’s accomplice and wife, to 18 months in prison for her involvement in laundering the stolen digital asset, citing her cooperation as a mitigating factor.
Compared to his wife’s sentence, the prosecutors sought a longer sentence for Lichtenstein, noting that he spent months planning the scheme and engaged in additional hacking and financial fraud attempts, including stealing $200,000 from a separate crypto exchange.
Initially, Lichtenstein and Morgan were only suspected of laundering the hack funds, but Lichtenstein eventually confessed to carrying out the attack.
Prosecutors stated that a stricter sentence is required to discourage future offenses and emphasize the severity of the crime.
“While the defendants have certainly cooperated with the government in recovering the residue of the stolen funds following their arrests, it was law enforcement intervention — not any sort of spontaneous remorse on the part of the defendants — that has facilitated those recoveries,” the prosecutor said.
Couple to Transfer Stolen Crypto Assets
Prosecutors have further requested that the court mandate both defendants to transfer the crypto assets confiscated from Lichtenstein’s wallet back to Bitfinex as restitution.
The wallet holds approximately 95,000 BTC, 117,400 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), 117,400 Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV), and 118,100 Bitcoin Gold (BTG), with a combined value currently exceeding $6 billion.
Lichtenstein’s sentencing was scheduled for November 14, while his wife will be sentenced on November 15.
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