A federal judge in Washington, D.C. sentenced 20-year-old California resident Marlon Ferro to 78 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in a criminal network that stole more than $250 million in cryptocurrency from victims across the United States, according to court records. Ferro, who operated under the online alias "GothFerrari," pleaded guilty on October 17, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeer-influenced and corrupt organization (RICO). The court ordered him to pay $2.5 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release.
Ferro's Role and Arrest
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro described Ferro's function within the group as a last-resort enforcer. "When his co-conspirators couldn't deceive victims into handing over access to their cryptocurrency or hack their way into digital accounts, they turned to Ferro to break into homes and steal hardware wallets outright," Pirro said.
Federal authorities arrested Ferro on May 13, 2025, in possession of two firearms and a fraudulent identification document.
Criminal Operation Methods
The criminal enterprise operated from late 2023 through early 2025 and drew members from California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and locations outside the United States.
Operatives employed a multi-stage approach to target cryptocurrency holders. They first identified victims believed to hold substantial cryptocurrency, then attempted to gain wallet access through impersonation calls, database intrusions, and SIM-swapping attacks. When victims stored assets in hardware wallets kept offline, the group pivoted to burglary, a role prosecutors attributed specifically to Ferro.
Once funds were stolen, they were moved through cryptocurrency mixing services and exchanges to obscure their origin. The group had stolen more than 4,100 Bitcoin in total.
Charges and Co-Conspirators
Fourteen suspects were charged across two sets of indictments filed in September 2024 and May 2025, all in connection with the RICO conspiracy.
Members of the group directed proceeds toward private security detail, nightclub tabs reaching $500,000 in a single evening, private jet travel, luxury watches, and monthly rentals on properties in the Hamptons, Los Angeles, and Miami priced between $40,000 and $80,000. The group also maintained a fleet of at least 28 vehicles, with individual cars valued as high as $3.8 million.
Related Sentencing in Same Case
The Ferro sentencing follows a similar outcome in the same case. Evan Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, California, received a 70-month prison term in December 2025 after pleading guilty to laundering at least $3.5 million in funds tied to the same scheme. Tangeman was also handed three years of supervised release.
Broader Federal Enforcement Context
Federal courts have handed down substantial sentences across several unrelated crypto fraud cases in recent months. Criminal groups targeting crypto users have increasingly combined account-level attacks with physical methods, with losses from crypto scams and hacks reaching $482 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone, according to federal enforcement reports.
In a separate case, Texas man Robert Dunlap received 23 years in federal prison for defrauding nearly 1,000 investors of more than $20 million through a token he falsely claimed was backed by billions of dollars in gold and fine art. Samourai Wallet co-founders William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez received sentences of four and five years respectively after pleading guilty to operating a mixing service prosecutors argued was used to launder millions in criminal proceeds.
