A Utah man has been sentenced to 3 years in federal jail for orchestrating a cryptocurrency funding fraud scheme that resulted in losses exceeding $2.9 million, based on the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Utah.
Abstract
- Brian Garry Sewell obtained 3 years in federal jail and three years of supervised launch for a $2.9 million cryptocurrency funding rip-off affecting no less than 17 victims.
- Sewell additionally ran Rockwell Capital Administration, changing over $5.4 million in money to crypto with out correct licensing, violating anti-money laundering guidelines.
- Sewell should pay $3.6 million+ in restitution, amid a worldwide surge in cryptocurrency crime, with illicit crypto receipts leaping 162% to $154 billion in 2025.
Brian Garry Sewell, 54, obtained a 36-month jail sentence adopted by three years of supervised launch after pleading responsible to wire fraud. Court docket information point out no less than 17 victims have been affected by the scheme, which operated between December 2017 and April 2024.
In line with prosecutors, Sewell solicited cash and cryptocurrency from traders by falsely claiming he possessed the experience and background essential to ship excessive funding returns. The funds have been misused fairly than invested as promised, prosecutors acknowledged.
Sewell additionally pleaded responsible to working an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise. Between March and September 2020, he operated Rockwell Capital Administration, changing greater than $5.4 million in bulk money into cryptocurrency for third-party shoppers, based on federal authorities. A few of these shoppers have been linked to funding fraud schemes and drug trafficking, authorities mentioned.
Sewell charged transaction charges whereas failing to adjust to required registration and reporting guidelines beneath U.S. anti-money laundering legal guidelines, based on the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace.
U.S. District Court docket Choose Ann Marie McIff Allen ordered the jail phrases to run concurrently and directed Sewell to pay greater than $3.6 million in restitution associated to the wire fraud cost. Further restitution was ordered to the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety.
“Sewell misled victims by promising returns he couldn’t produce, leaving households to soak up severe monetary losses,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Robert Bohls acknowledged.
The sentencing comes as cryptocurrency-related crime continues to extend globally. Knowledge from blockchain evaluation agency Chainalysis reveals illicit cryptocurrency addresses obtained roughly $154 billion in 2025, representing a 162% enhance from the revised $57.2 billion recorded in 2024.
In line with Chainalysis, a lot of the rise stemmed from state-linked actors, together with networks linked to North Korea, Russia, Iran-aligned teams, and Chinese language cash laundering operations.
North Korean-linked hackers have been chargeable for roughly $2 billion in stolen cryptocurrency throughout 2025, based on Chainalysis. The agency characterised 2025 as probably the most damaging interval up to now for North Korean crypto theft, each in scale and complexity.
Practically $1.5 billion of these losses stemmed from a February exploit concentrating on cryptocurrency change Bybit, which Chainalysis recognized as the biggest digital asset theft in cryptocurrency historical past.
