Judge sentences IcomTech promoter to 8 years to deter ‘crypto frauds’

Gustavo Rodriguez, convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for promoting cryptocurrency mining and trading firm IcomTech, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

In an Oct. 31 hearing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Jennifer Rochon said she had found “intentional false statements” in Rodriguez’s testimony, necessitating a sentence enhancement to eight years.

According to reporting from Inner City Press in the courtroom, prosecutors argued that the IcomTech promoter was “remorseless” and had “perjured himself for days.”

“I do not believe he is a sociopath,” said Judge Rochon. “He created the back office and website that allowed this. He did not profit like others [...] There are many crypto frauds, they must be deterred.”

The eight-year sentence was less than the US government’s request that Judge Rochon impose 160 months in prison for Rodriguez. His lawyers requested time served.

Alleged Ponzi scheme going back to 2018

Rodriguez was one of two IcomTech promoters — along with his colleague David Brend — charged in the indictment against the project’s founder, David Carmona. Authorities alleged IcomTech amounted to a crypto-based Ponzi scheme, siphoning more than $8 million from users between 2018 and 2019.

Rodriguez and Brend went to trial, and a jury found them guilty of one count of wire fraud conspiracy each in March 2024. The latter is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 22.

Caroma pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in December 2023 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October 2024. In January 2024, Judge Rochon sentenced former IcomTech CEO Marco Ochoa to five years after his guilty plea on similar charges.

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The Southern District of New York has become an epicenter for defendants charged with crypto-related crimes and regulatory violations, including five former executives of the FTX exchange, former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement cases against Coinbase and Ripple Labs.

In the FTX case, former engineering director Nishad Singh was sentenced to time served on Oct. 30, roughly two years after the exchange folded — the first person indicted to not receive any prison time. His colleague, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 20.

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