A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sentenced Marlon Ferro, a 20-year-old California resident, to 78 months in prison on Wednesday for his part in a criminal network that combined online fraud with residential burglaries to steal more than $250 million in cryptocurrency from victims across the United States.
Role as the Last-Resort Enforcer
Operating under the online alias "GothFerrari," Ferro pleaded guilty on October 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeer-influenced and corrupt organization. The court also ordered him to pay $2.5 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro described Ferro's function as a last-resort enforcer: when co-conspirators failed to trick victims into handing over crypto access or hack into digital accounts, Ferro would break into homes and steal hardware wallets outright. Authorities arrested Ferro on May 13, 2025, in possession of two firearms and a fraudulent ID.
Blended Digital and Physical Tactics
Operating from late 2023 through early 2025, the enterprise drew members from California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and overseas. Its methods ranged from digital to physical: operatives first identified targets believed to hold large crypto balances, then attempted to gain wallet access via impersonation calls, database intrusions, and SIM-swapping attacks. When victims stored assets in offline hardware wallets, the group shifted to burglary—a task prosecutors attributed to Ferro. A total of 14 suspects were charged across two indictments filed in September 2024 and May 2025, all linked to a RICO conspiracy centered on more than 4,100 Bitcoin. Stolen funds were moved through crypto mixing services and exchanges to obscure their origin.
Lavish Spending of Stolen Funds
Group members directed proceeds toward private security, nightclub tabs reaching $500,000 in a single evening, private jet travel, luxury watches, and monthly rentals of $40,000–$80,000 for properties in the Hamptons, Los Angeles, and Miami. The fleet included at least 28 vehicles, with individual cars valued at up to $3.8 million. Fellow conspirator Evan Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, California, was sentenced to 70 months last month for laundering at least $3.5 million from the same scheme.
Broader Crackdown on Crypto Crime
Federal courts have handed down substantial sentences in several unrelated crypto fraud cases recently. Criminal groups targeting crypto users increasingly combine account-level attacks with physical methods; losses from crypto scams and hacks reached $482 million in Q1 2026 alone. In a separate case, Texas man Robert Dunlap received 23 years for defrauding nearly 1,000 investors of over $20 million via a token falsely backed by gold and fine art. Samourai Wallet co-founders William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez received four and five years respectively for operating a mixing service used to launder criminal proceeds.