Gustavo Rodriguez, convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for promoting the cryptocurrency mining and trading company IcomTech, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
In the October 31 hearing at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Jennifer Rochon stated that she found 'intentional false testimony' in Rodriguez's trial, requiring an enhanced sentence of eight years.
According to a report from Inner City Press at the courthouse, the prosecutor argued that the IcomTech promoter had 'no remorse' and had 'lied under oath for several days.'
"I don't believe he is a sociopath," Judge Rochon said. "He created the logistics office and the website that allowed this. He didn't exploit it like others […] There are many cryptocurrency fraud cases, they need to be prevented."
The eight-year sentence is lower than the U.S. government's request for Judge Rochon to impose 160 months in prison on Rodriguez. His lawyer requested a sentence reduction.
Alleged Ponzi scheme since 2018
Rodriguez is one of two IcomTech promoters — along with colleague David Brend — who were indicted alongside project founder David Carmona. Authorities allege that IcomTech was essentially a Ponzi scheme based on cryptocurrency, defrauding over $8 million from users from 2018 to 2019.
Rodriguez and Brend stood trial, and a jury found them guilty of wire fraud in March 2024. Brend is expected to be sentenced on November 22.
Carmona pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in December 2023 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2024. In January 2024, Judge Rochon sentenced former IcomTech CEO Marco Ochoa to 5 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to similar acts.
The Southern District of New York has become a hub for defendants charged with cryptocurrency-related crimes and regulatory violations, including five former executives of the FTX exchange, former CEO of Celsius Alex Mashinsky, Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg, and lawsuits from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Coinbase and Ripple Labs.
In the FTX case, former technical director Nishad Singh was sentenced to time served on October 30, about two years after the exchange collapsed — the first defendant not to receive a prison sentence. His colleague, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, is expected to be sentenced on November 20.
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