A 41-year-old former ransomware negotiator has been sentenced to nearly six years (i.e., 70 months) in prison in the U.S. for their role in conspiring with the now-defunct BlackCat ransomware operators to extort multiple victims and working with two other cybersecurity professionals to target additional victims in 2023.
In a sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors described Martino as a "double agent working to maximize the harm to his clients and the financial gain to cybercriminals who paid him a part of the ransom."
Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O'Lakes, Florida, pleaded guilty to one-count information charging him with conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce through extortion back in April. The defendant worked as a negotiator on behalf of five different ransomware victims, while providing BlackCat attackers with confidential information regarding their negotiating position and strategy without their knowledge or permission.
This information included details about the victims' insurance policy limits and internal negotiation positions, allowing the operators to maximize the ransom amounts they were required to pay.
"Angelo Martino's victims shared heartbreaking accounts of how their businesses were nearly destroyed, while the people they hired to help them instead betrayed them to ransomware gangs," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the U.S. Justice Department's Criminal Division.
In addition, Martino was also accused of colluding with Ryan Goldberg, 41, of Georgia, and Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas, to successfully deploy BlackCat ransomware between April 2023 and November 2023 against multiple victims located throughout the U.S. Martino and Martin were employed at DigitalMint, while Goldberg was working as an incident response manager for cybersecurity company Sygnia.
Both Goldberg and Martin were sentenced to four years each in prison back in May 2026 for carrying out the attacks after pleading guilty to their crimes last December.
"He was hired to help victims in a moment of crisis," said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida.
"Instead, Martino betrayed them, fed their confidential negotiating positions to ransomware criminals, and helped squeeze them for more money. This case sends a clear message: we will pursue the hackers who deploy ransomware, the insiders who enable them, and the money they steal from American victims."
The Justice Department said law enforcement has seized $10 million of assets from Martino to date, including digital currency, vehicles, a food truck, and a luxury fishing boat that he purchased from the illicit proceeds. Martino is expected to appear in court on September 17, 2026, to determine the exact amount of restitution to be ordered against him.
"Angelo Martino sold out the very victims he was hired to represent, handing their confidential negotiating positions to BlackCat actors to drive up ransoms and enrich himself," said Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI Cyber Division.
