Helix crypto mixer operator sentenced to 3 Years for Bitcoin laundering crimes

Helix operator Larry Dean Harmon was sentenced Friday to three years in prison for laundering over $300 million in Bitcoin, primarily for darknet drug markets. According to the US Department of Justice, Larry used Helix to help online drug dealers launder their illicit proceeds, processing over 350000 Bitcoin from 2014 to 2017.

Helix operator receives a lighter sentence for his contribution to the Bitcoin Fog mixer case

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Larry Harmon, who ran Helix, to 36 months in prison, more than three years after he had pleaded guilty to the charges in a federal court in Washington, D.C. 

Harmon was sentenced for his laundering crimes involving more than $300 million in Bitcoin. In addition to his prison term, he will have three years of supervised release, pay $311 million in cash, and surrender seized cryptocurrencies, real estate, and monetary assets valued at over $400 million.

Harmon was up for a 20-year sentence; even the prosecutors asked for at least 75 months in prison. However, Judge Beryl Howell settled on three years, giving Harmon credit for his assistance in the Bitcoin Fog mixer case, which saw Roman Sterlingov sentenced to 12.5 years in prison on November 8. 

The judge also took into consideration that Harmon had closed Helix two years before he was apprehended, stating that he had reformed even before the case was presented to the court, hence the lighter sentence.

Harmon laundered money for drug dealers through Helix

Larry Hermon used Helix to launder Bitcoin, primarily for online drug dealers on the darknet markets. He processed at least 354,468 Bitcoin, valued at $311,145,854, receiving a portion of the transactions as his commissions for running Helix.

Harmon even established an Application Program Interface (API) and tailored some of Helix’s features, enabling darknet markets to incorporate Helix directly into their Bitcoin withdrawal systems. He also connected Helix to the darknet search engine, Grams, raising its popularity in multiple darknet markets.

IRS Cyber Crime unit agents and the FBI Washington field office partnered to investigate Harmon’s case, supported by the Attorney General’s Ministry of Belize and the Belize Police Department, coordinated through the U.S. Embassy Belmopan. 

The investigation also involved the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which previously fined Harmon $60 million.