In a dramatic courtroom showdown filled with sharp rebukes, emotional testimony, and legal fireworks, Nicholas Truglia, a 27-year-old convicted bitcoin thief, was slapped with a 12-year prison sentence Thursday by U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein—an outcome that has reignited legal debates around double jeopardy, debtor’s prisons, and the ever-complex realm of crypto-related fraud.
Truglia, once a slick cybercriminal who hacked into entrepreneur Michael Terpin’s mobile phone to siphon off over $20 million in cryptocurrency, faced resentencing after failing to repay a single dollar in court-ordered restitution. Despite having already served time and walking free on supervised release, his inaction and alleged defiance led the judge to impose a much harsher sentence—a staggering leap from the original 18 months he received in 2022.
“You’d rather be in jail than part with ill-gotten money,” Judge Hellerstein told Truglia from the bench. “The fact that you didn’t pay a single cent indicates to me that it’s all a sham.”
