20-year-old gets 78 months for $250M crypto theft

Marlon Ferro, a 20-year-old California resident known online as “GothFerrari,” was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution for participating in a criminal network that prosecutors say stole over $250 million in cryptocurrency between 2023 and early 2025. Ferro pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Court filings describe a multi-state and international group allegedly led by Singaporean Malone Lam, with members based in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida and overseas. The filings say the group combined online fraud and physical burglary to seize victims’ digital assets. Investigators allege co-conspirators compromised iCloud accounts to track targets’ locations, used fake support calls and spoofed security alerts to obtain access, and sent Ferro to break into homes to take hardware wallets when remote tactics failed.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro called Ferro “the criminal enterprise’s instrument of last resort” and prosecutors described the syndicate’s spending as “cartoonish,” pointing to purchases such as Rolls-Royces, Birkin bags and half‑million‑dollar nightclub tabs. After the alleged leader’s arrest, Ferro was reportedly tasked with buying expensive handbags for the leader’s girlfriend.

Law enforcement recovered a Glock 19 pistol from Ferro. The investigation was led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI Washington Field Office and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation division in Washington, with operational support from the FBI’s Miami and Los Angeles field offices. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Howland and David Liss prosecuted the case, with assistance from former Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Hart.

Prosecutors’ filings note that hardware wallets, often used as “cold storage,” offer limited protection if attackers can locate a user and force entry. The filings say the group frequently identified victims through their online presence and targeted individuals who displayed crypto holdings publicly.

A related prosecution resulted in a 70-month sentence in April 2026 for Evan Tangeman, who pleaded guilty to laundering at least $3.5 million tied to the same criminal enterprise.