- The sentencing of Alexander Vinnik is set to be postponed until January 2025 for undisclosed reasons
- Both sets of attorneys have agreed to delay Vinnik’s sentencing for money laundering until January 17, 2025
- Vinnik has pleaded guilty to laundering billions through BTC-e after initially pleading not guilty in 2022
The sentencing of Alexander Vinnik is set to be postponed for six months until January 2025 for undisclosed reasons. FullyCrypto has seen a filing by federal attorneys, not yet made public, which states that both sides have agreed to delay Vinnik’s sentencing for money laundering until January 17, 2025, from the original date of 12 July. Vinnik pleaded guilty to laundering billions through the Bitcoin exchange BTC-e having initially pleaded not guilty following his extradition from Greece in 2022.
Money Laundering Charges Date From 2017
Vinnik was a co-founder of BTC-e, a Russian Bitcoin exchange which facilitated laundering of bitcoins obtained through ransomware attacks, hacks, and other such illicit crimes. Among the bitcoins laundered through BTC-e are hundreds of thousands stolen from MtGox between 2011 and 2014.
The Russian was arrested in Greece on a US warrant in July 2017 but was extradited to France first, where he was tried and found guilty of money laundering in December 2020. Having served just six months of his five-year sentence, Vinnik was released and sent to America to face similar charges.
Vinnik Changed Plea
Vinnik initially pleaded not guilty to a 21-count indictment dating from 2017 and looked set to stand trial in September, only to change his plea earlier this year, likely cutting a deal that may have involved passing on information on Russian hacking activities to US authorities.
Despite pleading guilty, Vinnik still faces decades behind bars in the US, but his fate will now be decided next year following the agreement between the two parties to delay it. The filing has not yet been signed by San Francisco Senior District Judge Susan Illston, but with both sides tabling the motion, this can be considered a formality.
