Skynet dark-net fraud market associate pleads guilty in court.

A little over a year after being indicted, an associate of Skynet dark-net markets like Hansa and WSM. Court documents state that Skynet was not directly created by Mihalo, but instead 2 other unidentified individuals. Reportedly Mihalo played a large role in getting the team together. Mihalo’s role was to provide credit cards to be sold on the market.

The Arrest

On March of 2022, authorities raided and arrested Mihalo. Since then he has been held behind bars awaiting his trial. Others have also been arrested at the time for the same dark-net related investigation. It is unclear what investigations took place leading up to his arrest and what other information authorities have. It is unlikely we will be getting more information as further investigations seem to still be ongoing.

The Charges

After coming to a plea agreement, Mihalo is facing 8 counts of charges. The main crime is money laundering for which he is facing 6 counts. The other 3 consist of conspiracy to access devices for fraud, and accessing a device to commit fraud. It is still unclear when the sentencing will take place but it is expected shortly. The maximum charges possible for the crimes are 15 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, Mihalo is expected to pay $4.5 Million. Despite Mihalo supposedly earning $1 Million, the court adjusted the amount to reflect the rise of crypto prices.

Taylor Ross Staats, a co conspirator of the crime was also in court the same day. His role in the scheme was to check credit cards if the work, and to provide replacements to customers if needed. He plead guilty to only one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud’. He also has to forfeited money, but a much smaller amount of $21,000.

Conclusion

This case has been ongoing for quite a while now, and is still expected to head much into the future. Despite Mihalo’s and his partners case coming to a close, there are more expected in the future as part of this investigation. One example is Simon Kaura, who is another co conspirator in the case but is awaiting extradition trial in the UK.