One cybercriminal of the most violent kind will spend his best years behind bars, as will 11 of his thug pals for a string of cryptocurrency robberies in the US.

Remy Ra St Felix was found guilty of leading and playing a starring role in his gang of law-breakers earlier this year and will now spend the next 47 years in prison. There are five years of supervised release tacked on the end of that, plus an order to pay more than $524 million in restitution. He was convicted of nine counts relating to conspiracy, kidnapping, Hobbs Act robbery, wire fraud, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of crimes of violence.

The 25-year-old Floridian's exploits date back to 2020 and in that time he and his gang members stole more than $3.5 million from various victims across different states.

Among the more chilling crimes in St Felix's extensive rap sheet was a 2023 home invasion targeting an elderly married couple in North Carolina. St Felix and a friend deceived the couple into letting them into their house before zip-tying their limbs and holding them at gunpoint over a large sum of cryptocurrency.

The gang had researched the couple prior to the attack and knew they had robust wallets. The ordeal led to the theft of crypto tokens valued at the time at more than $150,000.

Court documents depicted a harrowing scene in which St Felix and co allegedly threatened to cut off the man's toes and genitals, shoot him, and rape the woman unless he was granted access to their cryptocurrency wallet.

Announcing the sentencing on Friday, the Department of Justice said this was not an isolated incident, and that holding victims at gunpoint was a common theme of St Felix's criminality.

A similar attack was carried out just a few months earlier in December 2022 in Little Elm, Texas. This time, a man was targeted by St Felix, Jarod Gabriel Seemungal, 23, and six Houston-based thugs.

The man and his family were restrained and held at gunpoint for more than three hours, during which time said man and his mother were tortured. Just like with the elderly couple in North Carolina, around $150,000 worth of cryptocurrency was stolen, as were two Rolex watches and other valuable jewelry.

The incident followed another in 2022. In Delray Beach, Florida, an entire family was held at gunpoint while a member of the family was abducted, beaten, and later found 120 miles (193 km) from the home.

Seemungal was said to have devised the home invasion scheme in 2022, with St Felix later taking the reigns after originally only being recruited as a lowly crew member.

The pair's criminality began in 2020, however. They initially started as non-violent SIM-swappers, stealing cryptocurrencies from victims' crypto exchange accounts with the help of friends overseas before they got a taste for bloodier methods.

This all came not long after prosecutors in 2018 dropped charges against St Felix reportedly that included attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a firearm, and armed robbery.

Just two months after the attack on the elderly couple in North Carolina, St Felix drove to Long Island, New York, from Florida, allegingedly to attempt another home invasion on a family of five, but was arrested en route. He was traveling with two firearms and cable ties.

St Felix, Seemungal, et al all communicated via an encrypted messaging app. They would plan attacks together, discussing the best ways to break into the homes they chose to invade, the targets' daily movements, and the tools required for the job.

Seemungal, who alongside St Felix was sentenced to a lengthy 20-year prison stint plus five years supervised release, and ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution, also used the app to coordinate the purchase of resources needed for attacks with foreign accomplices. These included hotel rooms, weapons, and rental cars.

Eight of St Felix's and Seemungal's cronies pleaded guilty in May, each earning themselves various spells in prison between 12 and 25 years in length, plus varying six-figure restitution orders as high as $524,153.39. Another pleaded guilty too and is due to be sentenced on October 1.

Two members of the Houston crew were sentenced to five and eight years in prison respectively, and ordered to pay $355,800 in restitution each. ®

https://www.theregister.com//2024/09/16/prison_just_got_rougher_as/