22-year-old sentenced to 70 months in crypto laundering case

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced Evan Tangeman to 70 months in federal prison on Friday in the District of Columbia. Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, pleaded guilty in December to a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations conspiracy charge and received three years of supervised release.

The Justice Department reported the theft ring took roughly $263 million in digital assets. Prosecutors allege Tangeman converted at least $3.5 million of stolen cryptocurrency into cash through a bulk-cash converter and used false names to lease luxury homes for other members. Court filings list his online aliases as “E,” “Tate,” and “Evan|Exchanger.”

Prosecutors contend Tangeman directed the destruction of evidence after several co-conspirators were arrested in 2024, conduct they described as a “consciousness of guilt.” The enterprise developed from friendships on online gaming platforms, with members located in California, Connecticut, Florida, New York and overseas.

Court filings show the group divided tasks among database hackers, organizers, people who identified targets, callers who posed as exchange or Google support staff, and residential burglars who targeted victims' hardware wallets. The largest documented theft occurred in August 2024, when attackers drained more than 4,100 bitcoin from a single Washington, D.C., victim — about $230 million at the time and valued at more than $321 million at current prices.

Federal filings show agents seized a 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Porsche GT3 RS from Tangeman's home, and prosecutors report co-defendant Malone Lam arranged the purchase of a Lamborghini Urus for him. Members of the broader group rented mansions in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami at reported monthly rates between $40,000 and $80,000.

Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano were arrested and charged in September 2024 after an on-chain investigator publicly identified them and another alleged co-conspirator, Veer Chetal. Tangeman's plea in December coincided with the unsealing of a second superseding indictment that added Nicholas Dellecave, Mustafa Ibrahim and Danish Zulfiqar.

The investigation is led by the FBI's Washington Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Hart. Prosecutors report the probe remains ongoing.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro called the operation “built on greed so brazen it borders on the cartoonish,” citing nightclub tabs, high-end watches and supercars purchased with stolen funds. She described Tangeman's destruction of evidence as a “consciousness of guilt.”