25-year-old Charlie Shrem, the CEO of bitcoin exchange BitInstant, was sentenced to two years in prison this afternoon following a lengthy court battle. Shrem recently pled guilty to aiding a Florida man sell over $1 million in bitcoins to customers of the online drug marketplace Silk Road.
Shrem will also serve three years of supervised release following the completion of his prison sentence. When asked what his feelings were on the situation, Shrem took responsibility for his actions and refused to pardon himself, saying:
“I have no excuses for what I did. I broke the law and I broke it badly.”
In the future, Shrem also stated that he is looking to put his knowledge to better use by preventing further abuse of the bitcoin market and working towards stopping other crime:
“No one [in bitcoin] is doing this anymore, they’re terrified… Bitcoin needs to stay away from criminals, from people taking actions that I did […] I need to be out there… helping the world to make sure they don’t do a stupid thing like I did.”
The bitcoin entrepreneur was originally in line to serve up to six years in prison, but received a reduced sentence after accepting a plea deal that saw to his forfeiture of approximately $950,000.
“Justice has been served… They were trying to put me away for more than six years, which would have been unfair. I think it turned out alright.”
