A US district judge accepted the arguments of prosecutors demanding that Ilya Lichtenstein, accused of hacking the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange and stealing 120,000 BTC, be sentenced to five years in prison.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said during court arguments that Ilya Lichtenstein spent months trying to gain access to the infrastructure of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange to organize a hack of the platform.

“It is important to convey to people that the theft of crypto assets was carefully planned and was not an impulsive act. And also that any crime will not go unpunished and will entail serious consequences,” the judge said.

At the time of the hack, the value of the stolen assets was approximately $71 million, and at current market prices they are valued at more than $9 billion. Prosecutors noted that this was one of the largest cases of money laundering that the US government has encountered in the cryptocurrency space.

Earlier, CNBC reported that lawyers for Heather Morgan, the wife of Ilya Lichtenstein, who is accused of complicity in the crime, are discussing options for a plea deal with prosecutors. Prosecutors recommended that the court sentence Morgan to 18 months in prison.