'Razzlekhan' Sentenced to 18 Months Over $10.8 Billion Bitcoin Heist

By Sander Lutz

Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, the rapper-turned-Bitcoin-thief, was sentenced to 18 months in a U.S. federal prison on Monday for her role in the infamous 2016 Bitfinex hack, which saw Morgan and her husband steal $10.8 billion worth of BTC (by today’s price) from the crypto exchange. 

Morgan received her sentence on Monday afternoon at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. Last week, her husband Ilya Lichtenstein was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his leading role in orchestrating the couple’s hack of Bitfinex, and then subsequently laundering over 119,000 stolen BTC through various coin mixers and darknet markets. 

"The last three years I've been battling a fed case, and I like to listen to my lawyers, Morgan said Monday in a statement posted to X. "Well, guess what, it's over, and I'm very excited that I will soon be telling my story, sharing my thoughts, and telling you more about the creative and other endeavors, I've been working on."

The sentencing concludes the saga of one of the largest cyber thefts in history. After years of mystery following Bitfinex’s hack, Morgan and Lichtenstein were arrested by federal authorities in Manhattan in early 2022. At the time, the vast majority of stolen BTC was recovered.

In the summer of last year, Lichtenstein and Morgan confessed to the crime and agreed to forfeit all funds derived from it—including gold coins the couple bought with some of the BTC and buried to keep secret. 

While Lichtenstein appears to have been the central figure responsible for carrying out the Bitfinex hack, his wife has attracted substantially more notoriety since the couple’s arrest.

Morgan, who prior to her arrest was a rapper, writer, and social media influencer, left a trail of colorful posts across the internet, including numerous idiosyncratic music videos. Her rapping name, “Razzlekhan,” was meant to evoke “Genghis Khan, but with more pizzazz,” according to the artist’s website. 

In January, it was revealed that Amazon MGM Studios is developing a feature film based on Morgan’s life.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include Morgan's statement to X.

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