22-Year-Old California Man Sentenced to 70 Months in Prison for Involvement in $263 Million Crypto Money Laundering Scheme

According to The Block, 22-year-old California resident Evan Tangeman has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for his involvement in an interstate gang that laundered approximately $263 million in stolen cryptocurrency. Tangeman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion last December, admitting to converting at least $3.5 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency into cash through large-scale cash exchangers and using fake identities to rent luxury homes for gang members. The gang operated with clear divisions of labor, including database hackers, organizers, call center agents impersonating exchange or Google customer service representatives, and burglars targeting hardware wallets. The gang's largest single theft occurred in August 2024, when they stole over 4,100 Bitcoin from a victim in Washington, D.C., valued at approximately $230 million at the time.