22-Year-Old Sentenced to 70 Months in $263M Crypto Theft

A 22-year-old Newport Beach, California, resident was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison on April 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C., for his role in laundering millions of dollars stolen in a multistate cryptocurrency theft ring that pilfered more than $263 million.

Evan Tangeman pleaded guilty on December 8, 2025, to conspiracy charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, admitting to laundering at least $3.5 million for the criminal enterprise. The group, which operated from October 2023 through at least May 2025, targeted victims through social engineering tactics, including database hacking, phone scams and residential burglaries aimed at hardware wallets storing virtual currency. Court documents describe a structured operation with defined roles: hackers accessed victim data, organizers coordinated efforts, callers executed scams, and burglars stole physical devices. The enterprise drained over 4,100 Bitcoin from at least one victim alone, converting the proceeds into cash that funded lavish expenditures across the United States.

Tangeman, operating under aliases including E, Tate and EvanExchanger, handled much of the money laundering by...