The founder of Bitcoin Fog, a mixer that processed more than 1.2 million BTC transactions, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison

Roman Sterlingov, the founder of the dark web's oldest cryptocurrency mixer "Bitcoin Fog," has been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison as part of the U.S. government's broad crackdown on cryptocurrency mixers. In March, a jury convicted Sterlingov of money laundering, conspiracy to launder money, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and unlicensed money transmitting, but the sentence fell short of prosecutors' earlier request for a 20- to 30-year prison sentence. In a statement today, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said that over the course of the decade-long operation, Bitcoin Fog became the money laundering service of choice for criminals to "hide illicit proceeds" from law enforcement, "and processed transactions involving more than 1.2 million BTC, valued at approximately $400 million at the time of the transactions." Sterlingov must pay a total of $395,563,025.39 in "penalty judgments," and he must also forfeit approximately $1.76 million worth of seized cryptocurrency and funds. Throughout the trial, Sterlingov has argued that he was merely a user of the service, not its operator. In addition, the analysis states: “The government is now confiscating the small amount of BTC he has left, while the billions of dollars he allegedly earned from running Bitcoin Fog remain unaccounted for.” (Cointelegraph)