According to PANews on August 7, as reported by Cointelegraph, the co-founders of the now-defunct cryptocurrency mining service HashFlare requested that a U.S. judge waive their additional prison time after admitting to telecommunications fraud, but prosecutors argued that they orchestrated a $577 million Ponzi scheme and deserved a 10-year sentence.
In a sentencing memorandum submitted to U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle, prosecutors argued that Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin should each be sentenced to 10 years in prison for this "horrific crime," which caused approximately $300 million in losses to the victims. Prosecutors contended that given that HashFlare is the largest fraud case ever adjudicated by the court, a ten-year sentence is reasonable. However, Potapenko and Turõgin stated in their sentencing memorandum submitted on the same day that, considering their cooperation and the fact that they have already served time in Estonia, the sentence is excessive.
The two were arrested in Estonia in November 2022, and after serving 16 months, were extradited to the U.S. in May 2024, where they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit telecommunications fraud. They are currently out on bail in the U.S., with a sentencing hearing scheduled for August 14.