An engaging development is that American courts sentenced a cryptocurrency mixer operator from Ohio to prison. This development comes amid lively enforcement actions by U.S. prosecutors into cryptocurrency mixers for their reported role in aiding money laundering, hacks and other illicit activities.
The Helix founder will serve 3 years in prison and forfeit over $700 million
In official releaseThe United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Larry Harmon, founder and operator of cryptocurrency mixer Helix, received a three-year prison sentence.
Larry Harmon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in 2021 after being charged with operating Helix, which was used to launder 354,468 bitcoins worth more than $300 million in drug trafficking proceeds. The Ohio developer also operated a darknet search engine called Grams that allowed users to access smuggled items including hacking tools, fraudulent documents, challenging drugs, etc.
Grams partnered with Helix on the obscure web, with both apps primarily used to sell drugs, with a portion of that going to Harmon in the form of commissions and operating fees. The Justice Department said Harmon ran Helix from 2014 to 2017, voluntarily shutting down the Crypto Mixer service before his 2020 arrest.
In a November 15 court ruling, U.S. Judge Beryl Howell of the District of Columbia sentenced Larry Harmon to three years in prison with an additional three years of supervised release.
Prosecutors initially sought a six-year prison sentence for the 41-year-old defendant, but Harmon’s cooperation with law enforcement, as seen in his testimony in the trial of Roman Sterlingov, operator of the Bitcoin Fog cryptocurrency mixer, coupled with his “early termination from Helix years before his arrest brought him some recognition with the Judge.
In addition to the prison sentence imposed, the convicted cryptocurrency operator will forfeit the equivalent of $311.14 million in cash and physical and digital assets worth over $400 million.
Crypto Mixer Operators Under Fire
Interestingly, Larry Harmon joins Sterlingov as the second cryptocurrency mixer operator to receive a prison sentence from US courts last week. On November 8, Bitcoin Fog operator received a 12.5-year prison sentence for running the “longest-running bitcoin laundering service” that operated from 2011 to 2021.
However, all attention is focused on the case of Tornado Cash co-founder and programmer Roman Storm, who is scheduled to go on trial in April 2025.
Prosecutors charged Storm with four counts in connection with his role in creating and operating Tornado Cash, which they say facilitated more than $1 billion in money laundering. If convicted, the US citizen will spend 45 years behind bars. Storm’s case remains a matter of public concern to the crypto community, which believes the developer should not be prosecuted for using his software. These sentiments have been backed by massive donations to the legal defense fund from high-profile entities including Vitalik Buterin, Uniswap DAO, etc.
Total crypto market cap at $2.9 trillion on the daily chart: TradingView.com
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