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<\/a>DOWNTOWN \u2014 In federal court in Brooklyn, Charles O. Parks III, also known as \u201cCP3O,\u201d was sentenced by United States District Judge Eric Komitee to one year and one day in prison for operating a large-scale illegal \u201ccryptojacking\u201d operation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nAs part of the scheme, Parks defrauded two well-known providers of cloud computing services out of more than $3.5 million worth of computing resources so that he could mine cryptocurrency worth nearly $1 million.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parks was charged with wire fraud, money laundering and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions in connection with the scheme and pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December 2024.\u00a0 As part of the sentence, Parks was ordered to forfeit $500,000 and a Mercedes-Benz luxury car purchased with proceeds from the scheme.\u00a0 The amount of restitution will be determined at a later date.<\/p>\n
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr., FBI New York Field Office Assistant Director-in-Charge Christopher G. Raia and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced the sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cParks branded himself as an innovator and a thought leader, but in the end, he was merely a fraudster whose secret to getting rich quick was lying and stealing,\u201d stated Nocella.\u00a0 \u201cThis Office remains committed to prosecuting criminal actors who take advantage of new, sophisticated technologies to engage in fraud and deceit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr. Nocella expressed his appreciation to the FBI\u2019s New York Cyber Crimes Task Force.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles Parks III stole more than $3.5 million worth of resources to illegally mine another million in cryptocurrency for personal luxurious purchases,\u201d Raia added. \u201cWhile Parks gloated across social media platforms, he failed to mention his purported success was rooted in deceit and theft.\u00a0 May [this] sentencing reaffirm the FBI\u2019s steadfast commitment to dismantling any cryptojacking operation that targets legitimate companies for nefarious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cryptojacking, also referred to as malicious cryptomining, is the unauthorized use or hijacking of another party\u2019s resources, such as electricity, hardware or computing power, to mine cryptocurrency.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to court filings and facts presented at the sentencing, from around January 2021 to August 2021, Parks operated a large-scale cryptojacking operation in which he defrauded two well-known providers of cloud computing services out of more than $3.5 million worth of computing resources in order to mine nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n
Parks created and used a variety of names, corporate affiliations and email addresses, including emails with domains from corporate entities he operated called \u201cMultiMillionaire LLC\u201d and \u201cCP3O LLC,\u201d to register numerous accounts with the service providers and to gain access to massive amounts of computing processing power and storage that he did not pay for.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parks also deceived the providers into approving heightened privileges and benefits, including elevated levels of computing services, and deflected inquiries from the providers regarding questionable data usage and mounting unpaid subscription balances.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, Parks told one provider that he was using the computing resources to build \u201ca global online training company that focuses on media, technology and business strategy\u201d and that his goal was \u201cto serve 10,000 students simultaneously.\u201d In reality, there was no training company, and there were no students.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parks instead used the fraudulently obtained computing resources to mine various cryptocurrencies, including Ether, Litecoin and Monero. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Parks then converted and laundered the cryptocurrency proceeds through cryptocurrency exchanges, a non-fungible token marketplace, an online payment provider and traditional bank accounts. He structured money movements to avoid transaction reporting requirements under federal law.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
After converting the ill-gotten cryptocurrency into dollars, Parks used the proceeds to make extravagant purchases, including a Mercedes-Benz, jewelry, first-class hotel rooms and travel expenses.<\/p>\n
Parks boasted about his profits so as to earn credibility as a crypto influencer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel in September 2022, Parks purported to share tips for achieving what he called a \u201cMultiMillionaire Mentality.\u201d Describing the fraudulent scheme, Parks boasted that, \u201cLast year I set a goal for myself that I wanted to make seven digits or more, and so I spent the first ten days of the year creating a \u2014 we\u2019ll just call it a really nice crypto script \u2014 that I was able to use at scale. And after working those ten days, let\u2019s just put it this way, I didn\u2019t work the rest of the year.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He later added that, \u201c\u2026 by April, I purchased myself a Mercedes-Benz AMG S class coupe.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s case is being handled by the Office\u2019s National Security and Cybercrime Section.\u00a0 Assistant United States Attorney Andrew D. Reich is in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Wayne Colon.<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAugust 21 | \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAugust 21 | \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ultima-reader-response.png\"\/)
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