Illinois man pleads guilty to darknet carding conspiracy. Michael Mihalo, a 40-year-old man from Illinois, has pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts related to leading a conspiracy involved in selling stolen financial information on darknet markets.
Mihalo founded Skynet Market, a darknet carding site, and played a key role in obtaining stolen payment card information. He also admitted to selling payment card data on AlphaBay while his associates sold data obtained from him on other darknet marketplaces.
Operating under the alias “ggmccloud1,” Mihalo amassed at least $1 million in cryptocurrency between February 2016 and October 2019. As part of his plea agreement, he will forfeit a minimum of $4.5 million, considering the appreciation of his digital assets over the years.
The Department of Justice highlighted these financial gains.
Mihalo pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud, and money laundering. He now faces a potential maximum prison sentence of 75 years.
Another co-conspirator, Taylor Ross Staats, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and forfeited $21,000, while a third member of the conspiracy, Simon Kaura, faces extradition to the United States as a British national.
