man sentenced to 4 years for illegal bitcoin operation

[galiano_tiramani]

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/b-n-man-sentenced-for-illegal-bitcoin-operation/article_30069152-125b-5ef1-8d19-e8f8176678de.html

Does anyone know who this was or any details?

[RodeoX]

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

EDIT: It's not who I thought. 

[Blazr]

Wut.

He traded $3 million and got 4 years + 3 years supervised released? holy crap seems a bit excessive.

Anyone got PACER? would love more info on this case. It sounds like they nabbed him for not being a money transmitter (IE not having the right paperwork) not because any money laundering had occurred, which is kinda ridiculous if thats the case.

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

[redsn0w]

Thanks for the link , but is it really  or not ?

<< Investigators found that Powell received more than $3 million from individuals during an 18-month period ending in February 2014, according to the U.S. attorney's office. >> \

[galiano_tiramani]

I looked it up on pacer, very few details, he was also charged with distributing marijuana, but that was dropped as a result of a plea bargain

[Blazr]

Thanks for the link , but is it really  or not ?

<< Investigators found that Powell received more than $3 million from individuals during an 18-month period ending in February 2014, according to the U.S. attorney's office. >> \

Story appears to have originated from an Associated Press wire, so it's likely legit. OP said he found the case on PACER too.

[spazzdla]

Wut.

He traded $3 million and got 4 years + 3 years supervised released? holy crap seems a bit excessive.

Anyone got PACER? would love more info on this case. It sounds like they nabbed him for not being a money transmitter (IE not having the right paperwork) not because any money laundering had occurred, which is kinda ridiculous if thats the case.

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

Deal in the FEDs market and they call up Merica to lay the Fing pwn down on you.

YOU WILL BE PUNISHED for competing with the USD, as I have warned many times before... the govs are just starting the war... it will get bad.. very bad.. you should have bitcoins competely offline that no one knows you own.  DO NOT PUT THEM IN A bank saftey box like a putz either, they will torture you to find out the passphrase.  No one can know about your stash.. not a soul.  Only put 10-20% of your holdings there.. the NSA knows you have bitcoins when they come for them "I have non" will land you waterboarded for months at utter best.

[RodeoX]

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

It's not the guy I thought. He did not run an exchange, he had a few buyers to work with directly. But his mine was impressive when I saw it a few years back.

[Blazr]

Deal in the FEDs market and they call up Merica to lay the Fing pwn down on you.

YOU WILL BE PUNISHED for competing with the USD, as I have warned many times before... the govs are just starting the war... it will get bad.. very bad.. you should have bitcoins competely offline that no one knows you own.  DO NOT PUT THEM IN A bank saftey box like a putz either, they will torture you to find out the passphrase.  No one can know about your stash.. not a soul.  Only put 10-20% of your holdings there.. the NSA knows you have bitcoins when they come for them "I have non" will land you waterboarded for months at utter best.

Lol. Your opinion has changed a lot in a few months:

Just popped in to say the UK is deeming bitcoin private money like the Germans.  I highly doubt we will see BTC banned in any legit democracy.

[DannyHamilton]

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

It's not the guy I thought. He did not run an exchange, he had a few buyers to work with directly. But his mine was impressive when I saw it a few years back.

I'm in northern Illinois (quite a bit north of the Bloomington-Normal area where this guy was from).

As far as I know I haven't ever encountered him (which is surprising if he was moving over a million dollars of bitcoin).

I've been working on getting a Money Service Business license specifically because I was concerned about this possibility.  As soon as I realized that this was an issue in Illinois, I stopped all significant bitcoin exchanging and now only purchase for my own use (at sites like Chicago Sun Times, Overstock, Tiger Direct, Expedia, etc).  I've been trying to figure out what license I need and what the requirements are to get it for about 10 months now.

[Blazr]

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

It's not the guy I thought. He did not run an exchange, he had a few buyers to work with directly. But his mine was impressive when I saw it a few years back.

I'm in northern Illinois (quite a bit north of the Bloomington-Normal area where this guy was from).

As far as I know I haven't ever encountered him (which is surprising if he was moving over a million dollars of bitcoin).

I've been working on getting a Money Service Business license specifically because I was concerned about this possibility.  As soon as I realized that this was an issue in Illinois, I stopped all significant bitcoin exchanging and now only purchase for my own use (at sites like Chicago Sun Times, Overstock, Tiger Direct, Expedia, etc).  I've been trying to figure out what license I need and what the requirements are to get it for about 10 months now.

You'll likely need to get a license in every state you do business in, so if you buy/sell bitcoins with someone in California, you need a license there too. Typically costs in excess of $100k and you should definitely see a lawyer about it. PayPal operated as an unlicensed money transmitter in a couple of states for many years and were never charged, regulators know that the system is broken. Thats why I'm pretty shocked at how bad this guy got it, there must be more to this case.

[newIndia]

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

It's not the guy I thought. He did not run an exchange, he had a few buyers to work with directly. But his mine was impressive when I saw it a few years back.

I'm in northern Illinois (quite a bit north of the Bloomington-Normal area where this guy was from).

As far as I know I haven't ever encountered him (which is surprising if he was moving over a million dollars of bitcoin).

I've been working on getting a Money Service Business license specifically because I was concerned about this possibility.  As soon as I realized that this was an issue in Illinois, I stopped all significant bitcoin exchanging and now only purchase for my own use (at sites like Chicago Sun Times, Overstock, Tiger Direct, Expedia, etc).  I've been trying to figure out what license I need and what the requirements are to get it for about 10 months now.

This is the biggest problem in almost every country. We dont know what they want. But they can catch if the want !!!

[spazzdla]

Deal in the FEDs market and they call up Merica to lay the Fing pwn down on you.

YOU WILL BE PUNISHED for competing with the USD, as I have warned many times before... the govs are just starting the war... it will get bad.. very bad.. you should have bitcoins competely offline that no one knows you own.  DO NOT PUT THEM IN A bank saftey box like a putz either, they will torture you to find out the passphrase.  No one can know about your stash.. not a soul.  Only put 10-20% of your holdings there.. the NSA knows you have bitcoins when they come for them "I have non" will land you waterboarded for months at utter best.

Lol. Your opinion has changed a lot in a few months:

Just popped in to say the UK is deeming bitcoin private money like the Germans.  I highly doubt we will see BTC banned in any legit democracy.

Nothing wrong with change ones opinion in light of new evidence.

[redsn0w]

Oh $#!T, I think I know who that is.  

I'm certain he would not want me to name him, but I know a guy in that area with a sick mine. If it is who I think, there could be more to this story than a mine.

It says he was running an exchange.

It's not the guy I thought. He did not run an exchange, he had a few buyers to work with directly. But his mine was impressive when I saw it a few years back.

I'm in northern Illinois (quite a bit north of the Bloomington-Normal area where this guy was from).

As far as I know I haven't ever encountered him (which is surprising if he was moving over a million dollars of bitcoin).

I've been working on getting a Money Service Business license specifically because I was concerned about this possibility.  As soon as I realized that this was an issue in Illinois, I stopped all significant bitcoin exchanging and now only purchase for my own use (at sites like Chicago Sun Times, Overstock, Tiger Direct, Expedia, etc).  I've been trying to figure out what license I need and what the requirements are to get it for about 10 months now.

This is the biggest problem in almost every country. We dont know what they want. But they can catch if the want !!!

This because bitcoin is not still "regulated" in a lot of country , so you need a license to trade it .

[DannyHamilton]

You'll likely need to get a license in every state you do business in, so if you buy/sell bitcoins with someone in California, you need a license there too.

I'm aware of this.  To start with, I was just going to limit my activities to Illinois.

Typically costs in excess of $100k

I'm hoping you're wrong, but I suspect you're right.

and you should definitely see a lawyer about it.

Wanted to do as much leg-work as I could on this on my own first.  Certainly I'd consult a lawyer before I started any business, but there aren't many lawyers in Illinois that understand bitcoin.

PayPal operated as an unlicensed money transmitter in a couple of states for many years and were never charged, regulators know that the system is broken. Thats why I'm pretty shocked at how bad this guy got it, there must be more to this case.

I agree that there must be more to this case, but I'm having difficulty finding out much more about it.  The article doesn't even state who the prosecuting attorney was, let alone what the evidence was against him.

[galiano_tiramani]

Robert A Alvarado
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
Suite 1500
401 Main St
Peoria, IL 61602
309-671-7891
309-671-7898 (fax)
Robert_Alvarado@fd.org
  Assigned: 06/20/2014
  LEAD ATTORNEY
  ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED   representing   John D Powell (1)
TERMINATED: 12/05/2014
(Defendant)


Bradley W Murphy
US ATTY
One Technology Plaza
Suite 400
211 Fulton St
Peoria, IL 61602
309-671-7050
309-671-7259 (fax)
brad.murphy@usdoj.gov
  Assigned: 06/17/2014
  LEAD ATTORNEY
  ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED   representing USA  (Plaintiff)

[elephantas1]

why is that illegal to run bitcoin exchange? its not real money

[DannyHamilton]

why is that illegal to run bitcoin exchange? its not real money

It's being exchanged for real money. Therefore, according to the law in Illinois, you have to have a Money Service Business license or face felony charges.

[odolvlobo]

Robert A Alvarado
FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER
Suite 1500
401 Main St
Peoria, IL 61602
309-671-7891
309-671-7898 (fax)
Robert_Alvarado@fd.org
  Assigned: 06/20/2014
  LEAD ATTORNEY
  ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED   representing   John D Powell (1)
TERMINATED: 12/05/2014
(Defendant)


Bradley W Murphy
US ATTY
One Technology Plaza
Suite 400
211 Fulton St
Peoria, IL 61602
309-671-7050
309-671-7259 (fax)
brad.murphy@usdoj.gov
  Assigned: 06/17/2014
  LEAD ATTORNEY
  ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED   representing USA  (Plaintiff)

It seems like there should be an indictment that gives all the details.

[ChuckBuck]

I'm guessing dude didn't have one of these:

http://moneytransmitterlaw.com/state-laws/illinois/

Hey, if it you want to run a business, you have to abide by the state or government's laws.  His fuck up alone, not Bitcoin's.