A US man was sentenced to three years in prison for operating the Bitcoin mixing service Helix and assisting in the laundering of more than $300 million in Bitcoin

Larry Harmon, an Ohio man, was sentenced to three years in prison for helping drug dealers and other criminals launder more than $300 million in Bitcoin after a judge gave him a lighter sentence for helping the U.S. prosecute other cryptocurrency cases. Harmon pleaded guilty in 2021 after running a "coin mixing" service on the dark web. Prosecutors wrote in a court filing that his Helix service helped hundreds of drug dealers "operate with impunity for many years" and facilitated the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Harmon in federal court in Washington on Friday, saying his "large-scale, long-term" money laundering constituted "extremely serious conduct." But Howell rejected the government's recommendation for a harsher sentence of more than six years, noting that Harmon "substantially assisted" law enforcement and decided to shut down Helix two years before his arrest. "He was rehabilitated before his arrest," the judge said. (Bloomberg)