A Florida man, Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiring to deploy BlackCat ransomware and extort U.S. victims, having worked as a ransomware negotiator for five different victims. According to the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, he abused his role at a U.S.-based cyber incident response company to feed BlackCat actors confidential information about clients’ negotiating positions, insurance policy limits and internal strategies, to maximise ransom payments.
The plea forms part of a case in which Martino conspired with Ryan Goldberg of Georgia and Kevin Martin of Texas to deploy BlackCat ransomware against multiple U.S. victims between April 2023 and November 2023, after which the group allegedly extorted a victim for about $1.2 million in Bitcoin, sharing the proceeds among the three men. The FBI’s Miami field office is leading the investigation, with assistance from the U.S.
Secret Service, and Martino faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison at sentencing on 9 July. The agreement notes assets seized totaling $10 million, including digital currency, vehicles, a food truck and a luxury fishing boat linked to the offence’s proceeds.