prison
Ryuk ransomware member pleads guilty in the US, faces 15 years in prison
A 34-year-old Armenian man has pleaded guilty to hacking U.S. companies and deploying the infamous Ryuk ransomware to encrypt their systems. Karen Serobovich Vardanyan was extradited to the United States after being arrested in Kyiv in April 2025 for providing initial access to corporate networks. According to court documents, Vardanyan helped deploy Ryuk ransomware on the networks […]
Poland busts SIM-swapping gang tied to millions in crypto theft
Authorities in Poland have arrested four members of an organized cybercrime group accused of breaching telecommunications partners and hijacking email accounts to carry out SIM-swapping attacks. The operation was carried out by the Polish Cybercrime Bureau (CBZC) with support from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in the United States. According to investigators, the suspects […]
DraftKings hacker ‘Snoopy’ sentenced to 18 months in prison
A 21-year-old using the alias “Snoopy” was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in hacking DraftKings accounts in the November 2022 cyberattack. In December 2025, the man, Nathan Austad of Minnesota, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, admitting that he and co-conspirators compromised 60,000 DraftKings user accounts. During the attack, the […]
Dark web Nemesis Market vendor gets 26 years for selling drugs
A California man was sentenced to more than 26 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine through Nemesis Market, one of the world’s largest dark web marketplaces. 39-year-old Darren Hughes of San Jose was convicted on drug trafficking charges in November 2025 and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John F. Kness on […]
Romanian gets 5 years in prison for hacking Oregon govt network
A Romanian national was sentenced this week to 56 months in federal prison for breaking into an Oregon state government computer network and fr cyberattacks targeting dozens of other U.S. victims. 46-year-old Catalin Dragomir (who used the online handle “inthematrixl”) of Constanta, Romania, pleaded guilty on February 19 to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of […]
Sextortionist sentenced to 33 years for targeting 145 children
A Canadian man was sentenced to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty to targeting more than 145 children across the United States, some as young as 6 years old, in an eight-year-long sextortion scheme. 40-year-old Ramanan Pathmanathan pleaded guilty on January 30, 2026, to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor and one count […]
Crypto gang member gets 6.5 years for role in $230 million heist
A 20-year-old California man was sentenced to 78 months in prison for serving as a home invader and money launderer in a criminal ring that stole over $250 million in cryptocurrency. Marlon Ferro (also known online as GothFerrari and Marlo) was arrested on May 13, 2025, carrying two firearms and a fake identification document. He pleaded […]
Karakurt extortion gang ‘cold case’ negotiator gets 8.5 years in prison
A Latvian national extradited to the United States was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for his “cold case” negotiator role in the Russian Karakurt ransomware group. 35-year-old Deniss Zolotarjovs (Денисс Золотарёвс) of Moscow, Russia, was arrested in Georgia, Eastern Europe, in December 2023, and pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire […]
Romanian leader of online swatting ring gets 4 years in prison
A Romanian national who led an online swatting ring that targeted more than 75 public officials, multiple journalists, and four religious institutions was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison. Swatting is a dangerous criminal harassment tactic involving making false reports to emergency responders of an ongoing violent threat at a target’s address to provoke an […]
Money launderer linked to $230M crypto heist gets 70 months in prison
22-year-old Evan Tangeman of Newport Beach, California, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for laundering funds stolen in a massive $230 million cryptocurrency heist. According to court documents, Tangeman (also known as “E,” “Tate,” and “Evan|Exchanger”) helped the suspects behind the crypto-heist launder at least $3.5 million between October 2023 and May 2025. Fourteen suspects […]