Theresa Tetley, a.k.a. “bitcoin Maven,” pleaded guilty to federal charges of having operated a money transmission business without federal registration and that she conducted a financial transaction involving proceeds of drug trafficking.
According to prosecutors, Tetley earned at least $300,000 annually by operating an illegal, unregistered money transmitting business that exchanged the digital currency bitcoin for cash.
Sentencing scheduled for Monday was postponed. Tetley faces a 30-month (2 and 1/2 years) federal prison sentence and forfeiture of 40 bitcoin, $292,264 in cash, and 25 assorted gold bars seized by law enforcement on March 30.
Tetley’s business “fueled a black-market financial system in the Central District of California that purposely and deliberately existed outside of the regulated bank industry,” according to court documents.
Between 2014 and 2017, Tetley used the localbitcoins.com to advertise and conduct transactions related to the charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Tetley exchanged between $6 million and $9.5 million over the course of 3 years.
This is just another case in an ever-growing list of bitcoin traders being charged and convicted for illegally trading digital currency.
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