An Ohio resident, Larry Harmon, was sentenced to three years in prison for operating Helix, a cryptocurrency mixer on the darknet.
During the operation, Harmon oversaw the laundering of $300 million in assets, with the majority of the money coming from or going to darknet drug markets.
Helix Mixer Operator Larry Harmon Sentenced to 3 Years
Harmon pleaded guilty in 2021 to operating a cryptocurrency mixing platform involved in illegal activities. On November 15, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell granted him a lenient sentence When acknowledged his cooperation in the Bitcoin Fog investigation. This case also involves Harmon and another individual linked to the Bitfinex hack.
Both provided testimony about Bitcoin Fog, which Bitfinex hackers have used for years to launder stolen assets. The sentencing of all three individuals took place within 48 hours.
“The scale and impact of the defendant’s money laundering operation is truly overwhelming,” said Alden Pelker, the prosecutor in the Bitcoin Fog case. “He brought search engine optimization to local cocaine distributors,” Ms speak.
Harmon initially built Helix Mixer to improve the functionality of Bitcoin Fog. He eventually stopped operating Helix two years before his arrest and testified in court, which reduced his sentence from the maximum twenty years to three years. Authorities ordered Harmon to give up $311 million in assets, equivalent to at least 354,468 Bitcoins worth during the operation.
His brother, Gary Harmon, was also found to be complicit in these crimes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized 4,877 BTC from Larry Harmon as part of its investigation. These cryptocurrencies are stored in wallets accessed through a device located in the IRS’s evidence vault.
Prosecutors charged Gary Harmon with using Larry’s information to recreate eight Bitcoin wallets, allowing him to transfer Bitcoin from these wallets and bypass IRS oversight. After Bitcoin disappeared from the IRS security device, investigators found evidence linking Gary.
An image found on his phone showed him at a nightclub in a bathtub full of cash. Gary is said to have used 68 Bitcoins as collateral for a $1.2 million loan. He also spent part of the stolen money to buy a luxury apartment in Cleveland. Gary Harmon pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Howell to four years in prison.