Lam faces up to 20 years as 11th of 18 defendants to plead guilty
WASHINGTON — A 22-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal racketeering conspiracy charge for his role in one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history.
Malone Lam, an eighth-grade dropout who came to the United States from Singapore, faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years after entering the plea before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The judge did not immediately schedule Lam’s sentencing hearing in Washington.
Prosecutors said Lam was an organizer for a network of young men who carried out a string of crypto scams starting in 2023. The group stole nearly a quarter-billion dollars in bitcoin from a Washington, D.C., resident, then spent the laundered proceeds.
Lam is one of 18 defendants charged in the case and the 11th to plead guilty.