The crypto influencer was sentenced to just over a year in prison for what US prosecutors called a massive crypto jacking operation that scammed two major cloud computing providers.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Friday that Brooklyn Federal Court sentenced Charles O. Parks III on “CP3O” to one year and one day for a scheme that stolen the computing provider over $3.5 million in resources.
Parks admitted to using fake corporate identities such as “High Billionaire LLC” and “CP3O LLC” to trick two unnamed cloud providers into mining $1 million in ether (ETH) between January and August 2021, and $1 million in ether (ETH) and Monero (XMR) between Monero (XMR).
Crypto jacking is when resources such as computing power or electricity are used without permission to mine cryptographically. Parks pleaded guilty to fraud in December after facing charges of money laundering and illegal transactions that resulted in a potential maximum sentence of 50 years.
“Charles Parks manipulated technology, stole millions of computer resources and mined illegally mined cryptocurrency. Today’s ruling holds him fully responsible for his deceitful behavior.”
Park lied to misuse computing resources: DOJ
According to the DOJ, Parks told one provider that it will use computing resources to build an online training company focused on media, technology and business strategy.
He said he aimed to serve 10,000 students in the company, but the prosecutor said, “In reality, there were no training companies and no students.”
The park was eliminated when the provider began enquiries about “suspecting data usage and installation of unpaid subscription balances,” the DOJ added.
Washed code to buy gorgeous items
According to prosecutors, Parks washed the cryptocurrency mined through providers through cryptocurrency exchanges, an encrypted token (NFT) market, online payment processors and banks, and converted it into cash to fund premium purchases such as Mercedes-Benz, gemstones and first-class travel.
According to the indictment from April 2024, Parks said he created multiple accounts with a subsidiary of a “subsidiary of cloud computing and consumer electronic devices headquartered in Seattle, Washington” and a “company that manufactures personal computers and related services headquartered in Redmond, Washington.”
He was ordered to confiscate $500,000 and Mercedes-Benz, along with a court that would later decide to pay compensation.
Parks built a reputation using cryptocurrency profits
Prosecutors said Parks boasted about his profits online to try to gain credibility as a crypto influencer, and shared tips on achieving what he called the “millionaire mentality” in a September 2022 YouTube video.
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His website, still online, offered optional one-on-one consulting for $150 a month, promoted a subscription-based self-improvement and wealth coaching program for $10 a month, and was paid with Crypto Token.
Parks (pictured) also passed the moniker “CP30”, a humanoid robot from the science fiction franchise Star Wars. sauce: A huge amount of LLC
However, US lawyer Nocera Jr. said Parks is an innovator and not the leader he appears to have branded himself.
“In the end, he was just a con man.
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