A federal court sentenced a 22-year-old man from Newport Beach, California, to 70 months in prison on Friday for laundering millions of dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency proceeds. This was part of a scheme executed by a ‘multi-state criminal enterprise’ that stole over $263 million.
Evan Tangeman pleaded guilty in December 2025 to participating in a RICO conspiracy, admitting to laundering at least $3.5 million for an organization that allegedly extracted more than $263 million in cryptocurrency between October 2023 and May 2025. The group reportedly expanded from connections formed on online gaming platforms.
The arrest of Tangeman led to the seizure of luxury vehicles, including a Rolls Royce Ghost worth over $300,000 and a Porsche GT3 RS. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro described the stolen cryptocurrency as resulting from “greed so brazen it borders on the cartoonish,” highlighting extravagant spending by the group on club bills, luxury cars like Lamborghinis, and Rolexes. They also bought luxury homes in Los Angeles and Miami priced between $4 million to nearly $9 million, with monthly rents ranging from $40,000 to $80,000.
Tangeman’s attempts at evidence destruction after co-conspirators were arrested underscored his consciousness of guilt, according to Pirro. This factor was considered by prosecutors during sentencing.
This case marks another significant action in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia’s ongoing efforts against crypto-enabled financial crimes. Previously, eight others involved in the same $263 million social-engineering scheme had pleaded guilty to related charges. Recent federal actions include the FBI seizing a platform allegedly used to launder $70 million from ransomware attacks and pursuing a teenager who admitted to a $245 million Bitcoin heist.