Brooklyn man sentenced to 12 years in Coinbase phishing case

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said Ronald Spektor, 23, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for his role in a cryptocurrency theft scheme. The office announced the outcome of the yearlong probe into the defendant, who pleaded guilty to 31 counts including first-degree money laundering and grand larceny.

Spektor, who used the online handle “lolimfeelingevil,” posed as a Coinbase representative to convince about 100 U.S.-based users that their accounts were under hacker threat. He instructed victims to move funds into a secure wallet that he controlled, resulting in the theft of approximately $15,944,000, according to the office’s initial press release from December 2025. More than 70 of those victims were interviewed during the investigation.

“painstakingly pieced together the digital proof that identified the defendant behind this sophisticated scheme, followed the money that he stole and compiled iron-clad evidence against him,” District Attorney Gonzalez said in a Wednesday statement.

Brooklyn Man Charged with Stealing nearly $16 Million by ... reported that the DA’s Virtual Currency Unit spent a year investigating a Coinbase phishing scheme that drained about $15,944,000 from roughly 100 U.S. users, a timeline that mirrors the recent sentencing. According to Bitcoin Magazine, Spektor must now surrender over half a million dollars in property and return almost sixteen million dollars to victims. Although Justice Danny Chun rejected the seven-to-21-year range demanded by prosecutors, he handed down the agreed-upon punishment. If you are watching the fallout, Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) releases its earnings on October 30, 2026.