The former operator of the now-defunct bitcoin exchange Coin.mx has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.
The sentencing of Anthony Murgio comes months after he plead guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmission business in January. Murgio, along with alleged co-conspirator Yuri Lebedev, was first arrested and charged in the summer of 2015. Federal prosecutors later unveiled new charges against Murgio in November of that year
Coin.mx was a Florida-based bitcoin exchange that federal prosecutors alleged acted as a financial conduit for the laundered proceeds of online criminal activity. The government sought as many as 10 years in jail for Murgio, a figure that the defense pushed back against earlier this month.
Ultimately, US District Judge Alison Nathan opted for a sentencing term of roughly half that amount.
Brian Klein of law firm Baker Marquart, one of the attorneys who represented Murgio, told CoinDesk in a statement:
