Two Cybersecurity Professionals Plead Guilty to Targeting Multiple U.S. Victims Using ALPHV BlackCat Ransomware

A federal district court in the Southern District of Florida has accepted the guilty pleas of two men to conspiring to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce through extortion in connection with ransomware attacks in 2023.

According to court documents, Ryan Goldberg, 40, of Georgia, Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas, and a third unnamed co-conspirator deployed ALPHV (BlackCat) ransomware against multiple U.S. victims between April and December 2023, sharing 20% of any ransoms with the ALPHV BlackCat administrators for access to the ransomware and extortion platform.

Prior media coverage by the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Goldberg served as an incident response manager for Sygnia Cybersecurity Services, while Martin worked as a ransom negotiator for DigitalMint; the third conspirator was also employed at DigitalMint, according to the article. After extorting a victim for about $1.2 million in Bitcoin, the trio split their 80% share and laundered the funds through various means.

Goldberg and Martin each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct, delay, or affect commerce by extortion under 18 U.S.C. § 1951(a), with sentencing scheduled for 12 March 2026 and a potential maximum prison term of 20 years. It is not clear from available documents who the third co-conspirator is.