Former Ransomware Negotiator Angelo Martino Sentenced to 70 Months for Conspiring with BlackCat Actors
On Thursday, July 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, formerly employed as a ransomware negotiator, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy with Blackcat/ALPHV (BlackCat) ransomware actors. Martino also conspired with other former cybersecurity professionals to target additional victims in 2023.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division stated that Martino's victims shared accounts of their businesses being nearly destroyed, with the individuals hired to assist them instead betraying them to ransomware gangs. Duva emphasized that the sentence reflects the harm Martino caused and signals the Department of Justice's commitment to identifying and prosecuting cybercriminals.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida highlighted that Martino was hired to help victims during a crisis but instead provided confidential negotiating positions to ransomware criminals, enabling them to extort more money. Quiñones asserted that this case sends a clear message that the pursuit extends to hackers, insiders who facilitate them, and the stolen funds. He also noted that over $10 million in criminal proceeds have been seized.
Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI Cyber Division added that Martino sold out his clients by handing over their confidential negotiating positions to BlackCat actors to increase ransoms and enrich himself. Leatherman affirmed that the FBI will pursue not only those who deploy ransomware but also the insiders who enable them, holding them accountable for betraying trust.
Court documents revealed that Martino exploited his position at a U.S.-based cyber incident response company and began conspiring with BlackCat ransomware operators in April 2023, targeting five different victims. Martino received payment from BlackCat attackers for providing confidential information about his employer’s clients' negotiating positions and strategies, thereby helping the ransomware actors maximize ransom payments.
Furthermore, Martino collaborated with former cybersecurity professionals Kevin Martin, 36, of Texas, and Ryan Goldberg, 41, of Georgia. Martin was hired as Martino's coworker after the conspiracy began, while Goldberg was employed by a separate incident response company. Together, they successfully deployed BlackCat ransomware against multiple victims across the United States between April 2023 and November 2023. After extorting one victim for approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin, the men divided their share of the ransom and laundered the funds through various methods.
Martino pleaded guilty on April 14 to a charge of conspiring to interfere with interstate commerce through extortion. On May 1, Martin and Goldberg were each sentenced to 48 months in prison by Judge K. Michael Moore in the Southern District of Florida.
Law enforcement has seized over $10 million in assets from Martino, including digital currency, vehicles, a food truck, and a luxury fishing boat acquired through the scheme. A hearing to determine the amount of restitution Martino will be ordered to pay is scheduled for September 17.
This announcement follows the Justice Department's earlier actions in December 2023 to disrupt BlackCat ransomware. During that operation, the FBI developed a decryption tool that enabled law enforcement agencies nationwide and international partners to offer hundreds of victims the ability to restore their systems, saving them approximately $99 million in ransom payments. The FBI also seized several websites operated by the BlackCat ransomware actors at that time.
