Hacker who stole nearly $55 million from Uranium Finance convicted, faces up to 20 years in prison

BlockBeats news, October 8th, according to Bloomberg, cybersecurity consultant Jonathan Spalletta was convicted by a New York jury for stealing nearly $55 million from the crypto trading platform Uranium Finance. Prosecutors alleged that he carried out two attacks in 2021, and the platform shut down after the funds were stolen. The jury reached its verdict after more than two hours of deliberation.

Spalletta faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for money laundering charges related to his use of crypto mixing services such as Tornado Cash. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff set sentencing for February 16th. Law enforcement seized more than $3 million worth of rare Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards, as well as about $31 million in crypto assets, from his Maryland residence.

Prosecutors said he also spent more than $600,000 on an ancient Roman coin commemorating Caesar's assassination and $137,000 on an original Wright brothers aircraft component that had been taken to the moon by Armstrong. Defense lawyers argued that he merely used publicly available functions within smart contracts, rather than forging credentials or using malicious code, and therefore did not commit hacking.