A Los Angeles bitcoin trader was sentenced Monday to one year in federal prison after she admitted to operating an unlawful money transmission business.
Theresa Tetley, a former stockbroker and real estate investor based in California, was also fined $20,000 and will give up 40 bitcoins (an amount worth roughly $254,000), nearly $300,000 in cash and 25 assorted gold bars, according to a notice from the U.S. Department of Justice.
As CoinDesk previously reported, Tetley worked as a trader on the LocalBitcoins exchange platform under the name "Bitcoin Maven" between 2014 and 2017 and reportedly exchanged millions of dollars worth of crypto during that period.
The year-long sentence – plus one day – is less than the 30 months Tetley potentially faced as the sentencing process moved forward. It represents a win for Tetley, whose lawyers sought a one-year prison term.
Brian Klein, one of Tetley's attorneys, called the result "a victory," according to LA Times, as it is much shorter than the previous 30-month jail time.
"We are pleased the judge made such a dramatic departure," Klein told the publication.
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Tetley's case is considered to be the first of its kind within California's Central District, but other lawsuits in the past couple of years have taken aim at U.S.-based traders who used the LocalBitcoins platform.
In one case from 2017, a bitcoin trader and his father were charged with running an unlawful money services business, resulting in a nine-year sentence for Michael Lord.
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