An Ohio man named Larry Dean Harmon will serve three years in prison and lose more than $400 million in cryptocurrency and other assets, according to the Department of Justice. announced on friday. Harmon was indicted in 2020 on money laundering conspiracy charges related to Helix, a dark web cryptocurrency “mixer” service he ran.
Also known as crypto “tumbling,” services like Helix are designed to conceal cryptocurrency transactions (often illegal drug transactions) and the identity of the people involved. From 2014 to 2017, Harmon processed more than 350,000 bitcoin (about $311 million at the time) in such transactions, according to the Justice Department announcement.
Harmon, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in August 2021, will be required to serve three years of supervised release after serving his prison sentence. He also received a money forfeiture judgment of $311,145,854.
He faced a possible 20 years in prison, but the judge in the case gave him a more lenient sentence after he helped with numerous other investigations, such as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/founder-of-crypto-mixer-helix-sentenced-to-three-years-25b4e2bb”>The Wall Street Journal grades. That reportedly included his testimony at the trial of Roman Sterlingov, who ran another cryptocurrency mixer called bitcoin Fog.
