Heather Morgan, widely known by her rap persona “Razzlekhan,” has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for her role in laundering funds stolen during the 2016 Bitfinex cryptocurrency hack.

Morgan pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to money laundering and defrauding the United States earlier this year.

A Deliberate Scheme

According to a CoinDesk report, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., described Morgan’s actions as calculated and intentional during the sentencing:

“These are serious offences,” the judge remarked. “You were true partners in this laundering scheme … You did not stop voluntarily but stopped when you got arrested.”

While Morgan initially claimed she was unaware of the hack, authorities argued her actions after learning about it demonstrated active involvement. She was accused of helping by using complex methods to hide the origins of the stolen funds.

These included “chain hopping” by converting cryptocurrency across different blockchains, using mixing services to anonymize transactions, depositing funds into darknet markets, and exchanging assets for gold coins.

Morgan also personally buried the gold coins. A lawyer for the prosecution emphasized, “She was the one that dug the hole,” adding that “She jumped into the conspiracy.”

Her husband, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, who carried out the hack, received a five-year prison sentence last week. The theft involved nearly 120,000 Bitcoin, valued at $71 million at the time and worth billions today.

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Author: Wayne Jones