James Zhong, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges in November 2022 for his involvement in an “unlawfully obtained” Bitcoin scheme, has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison. The US Justice Department announced the sentencing on April 14. The charges are related to Zhong’s scheme to steal over 51,680 BTC from the Silk Road marketplace in 2012. He managed to conceal his crime for almost a decade before authorities seized the Bitcoin holdings from his home in Georgia in November 2021.
The bulk of the cryptocurrency was found in a floor safe and a computer concealed in a popcorn tin. The coins were worth approximately $3.4 billion at the time. The Silk Road marketplace, which allowed users to buy and sell illicit goods, was shut down around 10 years ago.
