A hacker was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Thursday for laundering hundreds of thousands of bitcoins now valued at over $10 billion, which he stole from cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex.

Ilya Lichtenstein, 35, received credit during his sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for the time he has already served since his arrest in February 2022. As a result, Lichtenstein will serve just over two additional years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Bitfinex Hacker Gets 5 Years : Judge Grants Leniency for Cooperation

The sentencing fell below the 10- to 12-year range suggested by federal guidelines, with prosecutors urging leniency due to Lichtenstein’s "early and fulsome cooperation" following his guilty plea to a money laundering conspiracy. The judge agreed, citing his assistance to authorities as a significant factor in the reduced sentence.

Lichtenstein admitted to utilizing sophisticated hacking methods to steal nearly 200,000 bitcoins from Bitfinex in 2016. At the time of the breach, the digital assets were worth approximately $71 million. However, the value of those stolen bitcoins has since skyrocketed, totaling over $10 billion as of the sentencing date.

Laundering Scheme Involved Wife Heather Morgan

Prosecutors revealed that Lichtenstein's wife, Heather Morgan, assisted in laundering the stolen bitcoins. The couple allegedly employed a variety of tactics, including converting bitcoin into other cryptocurrencies and even exchanging some funds for physical gold coins, in an effort to obscure the trail of the illicit funds.

Morgan, who is also known as "Razzlekhan" in her persona as a rapper, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges as well. She is set for sentencing on Nov. 18, with prosecutors recommending a prison term of one and a half years.

Legal Teams and Case Information

Neither representatives for the prosecution nor Lichtenstein’s defense team provided immediate comments following the sentencing.

The prosecution team includes Jessica Peck and C. Alden Pelker from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, alongside Christopher B. Brown and Jolie F. Zimmerman from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Lichtenstein is represented by a defense team from Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, including Samson A. Enzer, Kiersten A. Fletcher, Anirudh Bansal, Jason M. Ecker, and Angela F. Collins.