Federal prosecutors urged prison time for a Georgia man who stole more than 50,000 Bitcoin valued at $3.35 billion when authorities seized it in November 2021, which at the time was the second-largest financial seizure in US history.
The seized Bitcoin is now worth $1.48 billion, but James Zhong, 32, should do time behind bars for his heist in 2012 from the Silk Road darkweb site, prosecutors told a federal judge Friday, noting he deserves leniency for helping authorities recover the stolen crypto. Zhong pleaded guilty in November and wants the judge to spare him a prison term.
