An Ohio resident, Larry Harmon, has been sentenced to three years in prison for operating Helix, a cryptocurrency mixing service on the darknet.
During its operation, Harmon oversaw the laundering of $300 million in assets, with a large portion of the funds 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 related to illegal activities. On November 15, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell gave him a lenient sentence when acknowledging his cooperation in the Bitcoin Fog investigation. This case also involved Harmon and another individual linked to the Bitfinex hack.
Both provided testimony about Bitcoin Fog, where the Bitfinex hackers had used for years to launder stolen assets. The sentencing of all three individuals occurred within 48 hours.
"The scale and impact of the defendant's money laundering operation is truly staggering," Alden Pelker, the prosecutor in the Bitcoin Fog case, said. "He brought search engine optimization to local cocaine distributors," she said.
Initially, Harmon built Helix mixer to enhance the features of Bitcoin Fog. Eventually, he ceased Helix's operations two years before his arrest and testified in court, which reduced his sentence from a maximum of twenty years to three years. Authorities ordered Harmon to forfeit $311 million in assets, equivalent to at least 354,468 BTC during his 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 the investigation. These cryptocurrencies were stored in wallets accessed through a device held in the IRS's evidence locker.
Prosecutors accused Gary Harmon of using Larry's information to recreate eight Bitcoin wallets, allowing him to transfer BTC from these wallets and evade IRS supervision. After the BTC disappeared from the IRS's secure device, investigators found evidence linking Gary to the crime.
An image found on his phone showed him at a nightclub in a bathtub full of cash. Gary was alleged to have used 68 BTC as collateral for a $1.2 million loan. He also used a portion of the stolen funds to purchase a luxury apartment in Cleveland. Gary Harmon pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Judge Howell to four years in prison.
