A federal judge sentenced former Celsius chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon to time served, nearly three years after his arrest on fraud charges. He was indicted alongside former CEO Alex Mashinsky for manipulating the CEL token price. Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty after initially contesting the charges and will pay over $1 million in forfeiture.
A U.S. federal judge sentenced the former chief revenue officer of defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius to time served. Judge John Koeltl ordered Roni Cohen-Pavon to one year of supervised release for his role in manipulating the price of Celsius’s CEL token.
Cohen-Pavon was indicted along with former CEO Alex Mashinsky in July 2023 following Celsius’s 2022 collapse. He initially pleaded not guilty to four charges after his arrest in September 2023 but changed his plea about a week later.
The former executive, an Israeli citizen, posted a $500,000 bond in September 2023 and has been free to travel with restrictions. Mashinsky is already serving a 12-year sentence after his guilty plea and was ordered to pay $48 million in forfeiture.
Cohen-Pavon agreed to pay more than $1 million and a $40,000 fine. In a letter to Koeltl before sentencing, he said he would have to spend his life becoming the man his family expected.
Separately, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm still faces a possible retrial on two charges in the Southern District of New York. A jury failed to reach a verdict in his trial last year on money laundering and sanctions violation conspiracy charges.
Prosecutors requested a retrial scheduled in October. A federal judge granted Storm permission to attend his niece’s high school graduation in California, despite his $2 million bail restricting his travel.
