IcomTech allegedly defrauded users of over $8 million between 2018 and 2019, and Rodriguez’s colleague is set for sentencing on November 22.
Gustavo Rodriguez received an eight-year jail sentence for organizing a conspiracy to conduct wire fraud to promote the cryptocurrency mining and trading company IcomTech.
Judge Jennifer Rochon stated that she had discovered “intentional false statements” in Rodriguez’s evidence during a hearing that took place on October 31 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The court increased the sentence to eight years as a result. The prosecutors said that the IcomTech promoter was “remorseless” and had “perjured himself for days,” as reported by Inner City Press based on their statements made in the trial.
According to Judge Rochon, “I do not personally believe that he is a sociopath.” “He was the one who developed the back office and website that made this possible. Like other people, he did not make a profit.
Cryptocurrency scams are widespread, and we must put a stop to them. Judge Rochon imposed a sentence of eight years on Rodriguez, which was less severe than the United States government’s request for a term of 160 months in prison.
Alleged IcomTech Ponzi scheme going back to 2018
His attorneys requested time served.The indictment against David Carmona, the project’s inventor, charged two IcomTech promoters, including Rodriguez. The other promoter was David Brend, who was Rodriguez’s coworker.
Authorities accused IcomTech of operating as a cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scam, stealing more than eight million dollars from its users between 2018 and 2019. Both Rodriguez and Brend were required to stand trial, and in March of 2024, a jury decided that each of them was guilty of one count of wire fraud conspiracy.
The latter is likely to face jail time for their actions on November 22nd. In December of 2023, Caroma entered a guilty plea to the charge of wire fraud conspiracy. She received a ten-year jail sentence in October of 2024.
In January of 2024, Judge Rochon handed down a sentence of five years in prison to former IcomTech CEO Marco Ochoa, who had previously pleaded guilty to charges that were the same.
Defendants charged with cryptocurrency-related offenses and regulatory violations have made the Southern District of New York their focal point. These defendants include five former executives of the FTX exchange, Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of Celsius, Avraham Eisenberg, the exploiter of Mango Markets, and the enforcement cases brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission against Coinbase and Ripple Labs.
On October 30, approximately two years after the exchange went out of business, FTX sentenced former engineering director Nishad Singh to time served. He was the first indicted individual to avoid prison time due to his conviction. Gary Wang, a cofounder of FTX and one of his colleagues, will receive his sentence on November 20.