Images: Heather Morgan (Razzlekhan)
The hacker Heather Morgan, also known as rapper “Razzlekhan,” is being sought by US authorities to serve 18 months in prison for her involvement in the laundering of 120,000 Bitcoin that were taken from Bitfinex in 2016.
Morgan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money in August 2023. The maximum penalty for this offense is five years in prison.
Federal attorneys asked for a lighter sentence for Morgan in a petition on October 9. This resulted from her offering “substantial assistance” in the July 2023 plea agreement she and her spouse, Ilya Lichtenstein.
With a level of 14, lower than Lichtenstein’s, Fed prosecutors contended that Morgan was a “lower-level participant” in the offense. They also pointed out that she had only used a small portion of the money that had been stolen.
Morgan was not the primary hacker, but it was first thought that she and her husband, Ilya Lichtenstein, had laundered cyber gains worth about $7.5 billion at today’s value. Later on, Ilya acknowledged that she was the first hacker. He entered a guilty plea to one count of money laundering conspiracy. The greatest punishment for this offense is twenty a long time in jail.
Morgan was beginning to be unaware” of how Lichtenstein got the 120,000 BTC, according to government authorities. Lichtenstein told her that he would be the hacker by the beginning of 2020. They then plotted to hide his role while she helped him launder the money.
Prosecutors stated in the complaint that Morgan “consciously chose to participate in certain criminal activities, assisting her husband in laundering millions of dollars in stolen funds for their own benefit.”
Prosecutors further stated that the defendant’s deliberate involvement in the money laundering and defrauding conspiracy spanned years, not a single incident or snap judgment.
According to the government, Morgan purchased actual gold coins with some of the stolen money. She hid these coins at a “secret location,” which the authorities later learned about.
Prosecutors have asked that, in addition to Morgan’s 18-month sentence, the court order that she deliver Bitfinex the cryptocurrency resources that were taken from the “Bitfinex Hack Wallet” as an in-kind payment.
With a combined worth of almost $6 billion, the wallet includes around 95,000 Bitcoin, 117,400 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), 117,400 Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV), and 118,100 Bitcoin Gold (BTG).
The day after Lichtenstein’s punishment on November 14, Morgan’s sentencing hearing is slated for November 15.
