Crypto thief released early thanks to Trump's First Step Act

Migliori Bitcoin wallet (Image credit: Shutterstock / Wit Olszewksi)

Ilya Lichtenstein, mastermind of the 2016 Bitfinex hack, was released early under the First Step Act
He and wife Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan stole 120,000 bitcoin, laundered funds, and were arrested in 2022
Both credited President Trump’s legislation for their early release, celebrating reunion after years apart

Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker who was serving prison time for breaking into crypto exchange Bitfinex and stealing millions of dollars' worth of bitcoin, was released from jail early. In a short tweet posted on X, Lichtenstein thanked US President Donald Trump for his early release:

“Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early. I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can,” Lichtenstein said. “To the supporters, thank you for everything. To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.”

Lichtenstein is a Russian-born US citizen who was behind the 2016 Bitfinex hack, largely considered as one of the biggest crypto thefts ever. He and his wife, Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, stole nearly 120,000 bitcoin from the exchange and then spent years laundering the funds through complex chains of wallets, darknet markets, mixers, and fake identities.

First Step Act

The pair were arrested in 2022 after investigators traced parts of the stolen crypto. Lichtenstein later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and related charges, admitting he was the technical architect behind both the hack and the laundering operation. Both were serving prison time, with Lichtenstein getting five years, and Morgan 18 months.

The First Step Act is a US law, passed in 2018, the goal of which is to reduce prison sentences and encourage rehabilitation. It allows certain inmates to earn time credits for good behavior and for completing approved programs like education, job training, or drug treatment, which can be redeemed for shorter sentences and home confinement.

Lichtenstein’s wife, Morgan, was also released early through the same legislation, and gave a “shoutout to Papa Trump” for her early release. Celebrating the release of her husband, she said: “The best New Years present I could get was finally having my husband home after 4 years of being apart.”

Via Cybernews

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Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.

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