James Zhong was sentenced to a year and a day in prison by the Southern District of New York court due to his involvement in criminal activities related to the theft of over 51,000 BTC from the infamous Silk Road marketplace.
In 2012, Zhong was able to hack the Silk Road’s withdrawal processing system, which enabled him to transfer more than 50,000 BTC to his personal accounts.
Despite close scrutiny from law enforcement officials, Zhong managed to evade justice for ten years and only pleaded guilty in November 2022.
During a search of Zhong’s residence in November 2021, approximately 50,676 BTC, which was valued at $3.36 billion at the time, were seized, making it the second-largest confiscation in the history of the US Department of Justice.
The court found Zhong guilty of wire fraud, burglary, and robbery of the Silk Road marketplace and sentenced him to one year and a day in prison.
“Cybercriminals need to understand that we will track down all crypto asset thefts and hold them accountable, no matter how intricate the scheme or how long the investigation takes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams during his closing speech at the trial.
Zhong had used various decentralized mixers, overseas cryptocurrency exchanges, and advanced technological tools to evade law enforcement efforts, but the federal government was ultimately able to solve his crime and confiscate 51,680 BTC.
Earlier, the US government had announced its intention to sell the 51,000+ BTC seized from Zhong amidst the global banking crisis.