Larry Harmon, the operator of the cryptocurrency mixing service Helix, was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in facilitating money laundering through the platform.
Harmon, 41, pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Despite the plea deal being made in 2021, his sentencing occurred three years later, though no explanation was provided by the Justice Department for the delay.
In addition to his prison sentence, Harmon faces three years of supervised release, and he was ordered to forfeit over $311 million, along with seized cryptocurrencies, real estate, and other monetary assets worth over $400 million. Between 2014 and 2017, Helix processed over $300 million in cryptocurrency transactions, aiding cybercriminals in laundering their Bitcoin.
The platform was also linked to Grams, a darknet search engine that Harmon operated.
Tumbling or mixing services like Helix operate by pooling funds from various users, mixing them together, and redistributing the coins to different addresses.
This process obfuscates the trail of transactions, making it difficult to trace digital currencies to their original owners.
Helix became particularly popular among cybercriminals, especially online drug dealers looking to launder the proceeds of illegal narcotics sales.
At its peak, Helix processed a total of 354,468 bitcoin, valued at $311 million at the time.
Harmon profited by charging a fee on each transaction. The platform’s popularity was bolstered by Harmon’s ability to link it to other prominent darknet markets, such as AlphaBay, Cloud 9, and Evolution, which provided an accessible financial channel for cybercriminals and drug traffickers.
The investigation into Helix was carried out by multiple U.S. agencies, as well as law enforcement officials in Belize.
In addition to his criminal sentence, Harmon faced a $60 million civil penalty imposed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for his role in facilitating money laundering activities.
Harmon faced up to 20 years in prison under the original charges related to his operation of the Helix cryptocurrency mixing service. However, in 2021, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, which likely contributed to a reduced sentence.
