Key Points:
- The U.S. released Russian cybersecurity figure Alexander Vinnik in exchange for American teacher Marc Fogel.
- Vinnik, linked to laundering billions through BTC-e, was arrested in 2017, convicted in France in 2020, and pleaded guilty in the U.S. in 2024.
The United States has released Russian national Alexander Vinnik as part of a prisoner exchange that secured the return of American teacher Marc Fogel, according to Reuters.
Read more: President-elect Donald Trump May Ease Crypto But Banks Won’t
BTC-e Exchange Operator Alexander Vinnik Released After 8 Years
Alexander Vinnik, a Russian cybersecurity figure, was arrested in Greece in 2017 and later extradited to the U.S., where he faced allegations of laundering billions through BTC-e, a cryptocurrency exchange he operated.
U.S. authorities accused him of failing to register BTC-e as a money services business despite serving American clients. In May 2024, Vinnik pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was facing up to 20 years in prison.
Before his extradition to the U.S., Vinnik was convicted in France in 2020 on money laundering charges and sentenced to five years in prison.
American Teacher Marc Fogel Had a Meeting With Trump
In exchange, Russia released Marc Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania who had been detained in Moscow in 2021. He was arrested at an airport for carrying 17 grams of marijuana, which he claimed was for medical use to treat chronic back pain.
Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in prison, a punishment that his family and U.S. officials had described as severe. His case gained attention when he was excluded from previous prisoner swaps under the Biden administration.
Fogel arrived in the U.S. on Tuesday night and was greeted at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland by national security officials. He later met with President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and House Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House.
In January, Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison for running an underground online marketplace where drug dealers and others illegally traded more than $200 million in Bitcoin.
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