Florida Man Working as a Ransomware Negotiator Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Deploy Ransomware and Extort U.S. Victims

A former Florida ransomware negotiator, Angelo Martino, pleaded guilty to conspiring with BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware actors and two co-conspirators to both assist and directly deploy ransomware against multiple U.S. victims in 2023; he leaked confidential victim negotiation and insurance information to maximize ransoms, participated in extortion (including an approximate $1.2M Bitcoin payoff), laundered proceeds, and has had over $10M in assets seized, with federal prosecutions and sentencing scheduled.