Crypto 6’s Aria DiMezzo sentenced to 18 months for bitcoin scam

[ad_1]

Freeman is still awaiting sentencing and attended DiMezzos’ hearing in US District Court in New Hampshire to support her as a friend, he told The Globe.

The scammers courted their victims who were often vulnerable elderly people and posed as a romantic interest, claiming to develop a relationship with the victim online. The scammer would then tell his victim that he was in trouble and needed the money, and would use a company like DiMezzos or Freemans to transfer and launder that money, converting it from cash to bitcoins.

Get the NH Morning Report

A weekday newsletter delivering the NH news you need to know straight to your inbox.

Three other Crypto 6 members who faced wire fraud charges received sentences that did not involve jail time. But federal prosecutors argued that DiMezzo was more closely involved in Freeman’s business, taking on some of his clients and opening bank accounts when he couldn’t. After serving his 18-month sentence, DiMezzo will also have a year of probation.

Prosecutors have asked for a maximum sentence of 37 months, arguing that DiMezzo intentionally and deliberately turned a blind eye to the nefarious customers his business was attracting and engineered a business that would facilitate such transactions. DiMezzos did not have the same safeguards in place as a regulated financial institution.

Because it was not a safe business, people were hurt, said Seth Aframe, an assistant United States attorney. People gave money to Ms. DiMezzo’s business and they got scammed.

DiMezzo and her attorney were pushing for her to serve a one-year house arrest sentence without any jail time. DiMezzo and her attorney argued that she had no idea the transactions were part of a scam.

As bewildered as she was on the licensing issue, she was not trying to defraud anyone, her attorney Richard Guerriero told Judge Joseph Laplante. The only thing she did wrong was not having a license.

And they said the judge should consider other factors of DiMezzos’ identity when determining her sentence, such as the particular risk that prison might pose to her as a transgender woman. DiMezzos’ attorney described her as someone who escaped from a troubled home in northern Mississippi with drug-addicted parents and now lives humbly: a 36-year-old woman with no criminal record who rents a house, lives with her dog and works as an assistant manager at Domino’s.

The summer of 2020 was the peak of DiMezzos’ crypto business, which prosecutors say involved the exchange of $3 million. DiMezzo charged transaction fees ranging from around 10-20%.

The prosecution released a video for the judge before he handed down the sentence, which showed DiMezzo instructing others to never ask what a client is using bitcoin for and to end the relationship if a client disclosed this information. . They also showed a clip in which DiMezzo calls the elderly victim of a romance scam stupid and silly.

It’s a recipe for disaster and makes crime worse than just not getting a license, Aframe said.

Judge Laplante ultimately determined that it didn’t matter that DiMezzo knew she was hurting the victims, but that her sentence would reflect the fact that they had been hurt.

I have nothing but regrets, DiMezzo said, adding that she reckoned with his arrogance. Cryptocurrency like bitcoin has strong ideological appeal to DiMezzo and other libertarians, who value financial privacy. DiMezzo likened it to paying someone to mow a lawn, she wouldn’t ask someone what they’re going to spend the money on.

She said she was operating under the belief that the government is no good. I thought we were making banks frustrated, she said, citing examples from big banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo. My goal was to bring down the banks.

She said she regretted calling one of the scam victims stupid and said she started therapy shortly after the episode.

Earlier in April, DiMezzo agreed to hand over approximately 2 bitcoins to the government worth between $50,000 and $60,000, to help those who had fallen victim to the scam.

The purpose was not to assist in sentencing. The purpose was to help victims of fraud, she told the Globe ahead of the hearing. This way I could. I didn’t know they were victims of fraud at the time.

A group of about 30 people came together to support DiMezzo. Some wore black t-shirts that read Bitcoin is not a crime. Others began to cry after the sentencing.

She means a lot to a lot of people, Freeman said. She never hurt anyone.

DiMezzo has 14 days to appeal the conviction.

Amanda Gokee can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @amanda_gokee.

[ad_2]