Former ransomware negotiator pleads guilty in BlackCat scheme

Angelo Martino, a Florida man formerly employed as a ransomware negotiator, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit ransomware extortion in connection with the BlackCat/ALPHV group, according to DoJ press materials cited in the piece. According to court documents, Martino began assisting BlackCat actors from April 2023 while working for a U.S. incident response firm, secretly sharing sensitive client details such as insurance limits and negotiation strategies across five victim cases.

The article notes that Martino, Goldberg, and Kevin Martin deployed BlackCat ransomware against U.S. victims from April to December 2023, sharing 20% of ransoms with operators and extorting about $1.2 million in Bitcoin, with proceeds laundered through various channels and assets seized by authorities totaling more than $10 million. The DoJ quotes describe Martino as abusing insider access to feed confidential information to attackers and then joining the conspiracy to deploy ransomware for profit.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 9 for Martino, with Martin and Goldberg facing a maximum penalty of 20 years and sentences set for April 30.