The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida sentenced Angelo Martino, 41, to 70 months in federal prison for conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce through extortion, according to the Department of Justice. Martino worked as a ransomware negotiator for Digital Mint, the firm companies hire to talk hackers down mid-crisis. He did the opposite.
Court documents say Martino fed confidential negotiating positions from five different clients to the operators of the BlackCat ransomware strain, letting the gang squeeze bigger payouts. U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones didn’t mince words: Martino “betrayed” the victims he was hired to protect.
He wasn’t alone. Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas, and Ryan Goldberg, 41, of Georgia, both former cybersecurity professionals, joined the scheme. Both men were sentenced to 48 months in May, after guilty pleas in December. One victim alone paid $1.2 million in Bitcoin, split three ways and laundered.
Martino pleaded guilty in April and asked the court for 24 months, arguing his cooperation helped convict Martin and Goldberg. He got nearly triple that instead, a heavier sentence than the men who actually deployed the ransomware he enabled. Flipping first doesn’t buy leniency when prosecutors decide the inside man, the one who sold out the trust relationship, is the more culpable actor.
Law enforcement has already seized $10 million from Martino: crypto, vehicles, a food truck, a luxury fishing boat. A September hearing will set how much of that he owes back in restitution.
James Okafor