Overview
- Ryan Goldberg of Georgia and Kevin Martin of Texas pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to conspiracy to extort and face up to 20 years in prison each.
- Prosecutors say the pair, with an unnamed co-conspirator, used ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware in 2023 to target firms including a Maryland pharmaceutical company, a California engineering firm, a Virginia drone manufacturer, a California doctor's office, and a Tampa medical device company.
- Only the Tampa medical device company is confirmed to have paid, transferring about $1.27 million in bitcoin after a $10 million demand.
- The defendants agreed to give ALPHV a 20% cut, split the remainder, and attempted to launder the proceeds, according to court filings.
- The FBI’s Miami Field Office led the investigation with support from the U.S. Secret Service, and the Southern District of Florida is pursuing asset forfeiture; the FBI previously breached BlackCat’s infrastructure in 2023 and estimated at least $300 million collected from more than 1,000 victims through September 2023.