PANews reported on October 10 that according to CoinDesk, US prosecutors requested an 18-month prison sentence for Heather Morgan (better known by her rapper name "Razzlekhan") for her involvement in laundering 120,000 bitcoins stolen from Bitfinex in the 2016 hack. In August 2023, Morgan pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Although it was initially believed that Morgan and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, simply laundered the proceeds of the hack (worth about $7.5 billion in today's dollars), Lichtenstein later admitted to being the original hacker and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. According to court documents, Lichtenstein carried out the hack alone in 2016 and did not tell his wife about it or seek her help in laundering the money until four years later in 2020, making her an accessory after the crime. Considering Morgan's early acceptance of responsibility and "substantial assistance to law enforcement," as well as the small amount of proceeds of the crime she spent on her own, prosecutors recommended a lighter sentence for her.
In addition to seeking jail time for Morgan, prosecutors are asking the court to order her to return the cryptocurrency seized from the Bitfinex hacker wallet directly to Bitfinex as in-kind compensation. The cryptocurrency includes approximately 94,643.29837084 BTC, 117,376.52651940 BCH, 117,376.58178024 BSV, and 118,102.03258447 BTG, worth more than $6 billion at current prices. Morgan will be sentenced in Washington, D.C., at 2 p.m. on November 15, one day later than Lichtenstein.
