GoKawiilA 20-year-old California man was sentenced to 78 months in prison for serving as a home invader and money launderer in a criminal ring that stole over $250 million in cryptocurrency.
Marlon Ferro (also known online as GothFerrari and Marlo) was arrested on May 13, 2025, carrying two firearms and a fake identification document. He pleaded guilty in October and was also ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, the criminal ring targeted individuals believed to hold significant cryptocurrency between late 2023 and early 2025.
They used social engineering to trick their victims into giving them access to digital wallets, and when victims stored funds in hardware wallets, the conspiracy shifted to Ferro's expertise in residential burglaries.
"Marlon Ferro served as the criminal enterprise's instrument of last resort. When his co-conspirators couldn't deceive victims into handing over access to their cryptocurrency or hack their way into digital accounts, they turned to Ferro to break into homes and steal hardware wallets outright," said U.S. Attorney Pirro on Wednesday.
"This scheme blended sophisticated online fraud with old-fashioned burglary to drain victims of millions of dollars in digital assets."
In February 2024, Ferro traveled to Winnsboro, Texas, broke into a victim's home, stole a hardware wallet containing approximately 100 Bitcoins (then valued at more than $5 million), and laundered the funds through cryptocurrency exchanges.
In July, the same year, Ferro flew to New Mexico, monitored a victim's home for several days using a cell phone, and broke in by smashing a window with a brick after accomplices tracking the victim's location through his iCloud account confirmed they had left the residence.
Ferro, after breaking into the New Mexico victim's home using a brick (DOJ)
He also opened a fraudulent digital payment card account using fake identification to enable his accomplices to spend stolen funds at nightclubs and retail locations, and to buy more than $255,000 in designer clothing on their behalf.
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