Crypto scammer Nicholas Truglia has received a new 12-year prison sentence after failing to pay $20 million in restitution to his victim. The punishment stems from his 2018 SIM-swap attack, which targeted crypto investor Michael Terpin. A New York judge imposed the sentence after Truglia violated previous court orders related to the case.
Court Increases Truglia’s Sentence After Restitution Violation
A federal judge in New York sentenced Nicholas Truglia to 12 years in prison on July 10. His new term supersedes the 18-month post he received in December 2022. Truglia had been cited to pay Michael Terpin 20 million US dollars as restitution.
As court documents indicated, Truglia did not meet this condition. It was indicated that he transferred money, exchanged assets to Bitcoin, and retained 673,000 dollars. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein stated during sentencing, “If ten years are okay, I’ll be sentencing you to twelve years.”
The sentence exceeds the federal guidelines, which suggest 51 to 63 months. However, the court justified the increase based on Truglia’s actions and contempt of previous rulings. The consideration of a video where Truglia argued the necessity to maintain the stolen property in jail also contributed to the court verdict.
Truglia’s SIM-Swap Case Involved $20M in Stolen Crypto
In May 2018, Truglia took part in a SIM-insertion assault on Michael Terpin, who stole over 20 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency. He was able to control the phone number of Terpin and find the emails and other accounts of Terpin. This enabled him to transfer the digital assets to wallets that he managed.
In December 2022, Truglia was found guilty and given an 18-month prison term. He was jailed for 12 months and then released on condition that he would pay restitution. He has, however, not been able to pay the required money ordered by the court and was re-arrested in May 2023.
It is indicated that Truglia carried on with the management of crypto finances and engaged in luxury shopping once he was set free. On a court order, he failed to give back to the stolen assets, and this resulted in a court proceeding to courts and his eventual re-incarceration.
