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Bitcoin Launderer Gets 3 Years in Prison for Facilitating Illegal Activity

Key Points:

Bitcoin launderer Larry Harmon was sentenced to three years in prison for mixing over $300 million in Bitcoin through his Helix mixing service.
From 2014 to 2017, Harmon’s Helix and Grams platforms facilitated illegal activities on the darknet.

According to Bloomberg, an Ohio man was sentenced to three years in prison for laundering more than $300 million in Bitcoin through a darknet cryptocurrency mixing service, well below the 20-year maximum he faced.

Judge Sentences Bitcoin Launderer to Prison for Mixing More Than $300 Million in Bitcoin

Larry Harmon, who founded the mixer service Helix, was given leniency due to his cooperation in prosecuting other cryptocurrency-related cases, including the ongoing investigation into the Bitcoin Fog mixer.

The Bitcoin launderer pled guilty in 2021 to operating Helix, a service that anonymized cryptocurrency transactions. From 2014 to 2017, Helix laundered roughly 354,468 Bitcoins, worth more than $311 million at the time, most belonging to darknet markets that sold drugs, hacking tools, and stolen credit card data. Prosecutors said Helix had been instrumental in allowing hundreds of drug dealers to conduct their business with relative impunity.

Harmon also created Grams, a darknet search engine that launched in 2014 and mimicked Google’s interface to ease access to illegal substances. Both Grams and Helix launched after the 2013 demise of Silk Road, a darknet marketplace. The Bitcoin launderer integrated these tools, allowing darknet vendors to link Helix directly to their Bitcoin withdrawal systems.

Cooperation Leads to Leniency and Major Asset Forfeiture

At first, prosecutors suggested a sentence of more than six years but revised that recommendation considering the fact that in his agreement, he promised to testify against Roman Sterlingov, admin of Bitcoin Fog. Sterlingov was sentenced to more than 12 years this year.

District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Beryl Howell I that cooperation on the part of Harmon constituted a mitigating factor when she determined the sentence to impose. He also received three years of supervised release in addition to the prison time, and was ordered to forfeit more than $400 million in assets from cryptocurrency to real estate.

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Harold

With a passion for untangling the complexities of the financial world, I've spent over four years in financial journalism, covering everything from traditional equities to the cutting edge of venture capital. "The financial markets are a fascinating puzzle," I often say, "and I love helping people make sense of them." That's what drives me to bring clear and insightful financial journalism to the readers of Coincu.