Bitcoin couple Ilya Lichtenstein, Heather Morgan talk plea deal

The wacky crypto couple charged with trying to launder billions of {dollars} in hacked bitcoin have entered talks with federal prosecutors on a possible plea deal, in accordance with court docket filings revealed this week.

The talks have been first disclosed in a submitting by the prosecution on Monday. Federal officers mentioned each authorized groups agreed to delay a standing listening to that was initially scheduled to happen later this week “to facilitate the invention course of and plea discussions between the events.” The listening to was rescheduled till Could 4.

Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, 34, and his rapper spouse, Heather Morgan, 31, have been arrested at their Manhattan condominium in February. Federal authorities have accused the couple of attempting to launder 119,754 bitcoin – the equal of $4.5 billion – that they purportedly pilfered when a hacker breached the crypto change Bitfinex in 2016.

Later in February, prosecutors disclosed in a court docket submitting that they’d search a “decision” of the case to keep away from a trial, MarketWatch reported. The couple faces as much as 25 years in federal jail on prices of conspiracy to commit cash laundering and conspiracy to defraud america.

Morgan is free on $3 million bond pending the end result of negotiations. Lichtenstein was not granted bail and has remained in federal custody since his arrest.

Attorneys for Lichtenstein and Morgan didn’t return requests for remark, in accordance with Marketwatch.

Federal authorities initially sought to have each defendants held in custody till trial, arguing in court docket paperwork that their actions have been “pulled from the pages of a spy novel” and indicated a possible flight threat. Lichtenstein and Morgan purportedly had “entry to quite a few fraudulent identities and paperwork bought on the darknet, and the power to simply purchase extra.”

The feds asserted that the couple “have been organising a contingency plan for a life in Ukraine and/or Russia previous to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

When legislation enforcement officers carried out an condominium raid that resulted within the couple’s arrest, brokers found a number of telephones and SIM playing cards, together with a bag labeled “Burner Telephone.”

Authorities discovered “two hollowed-out books” in Lichtenstein’s workplace and greater than $40,000 in money. In addition they found “what seems to be a considerable quantity of overseas forex” and famous Lichtenstein used digital forex to purchase “over 70 one-ounce gold cash” that weren’t present in his condominium.

Since their arrest, Lichtenstein and Morgan have gained notoriety for his or her flamboyant on-line personas. Morgan rapped beneath the identify “Razzlekhan” and as soon as penned a column for Forbes warning about pandemic-era fraudsters.