Overview
- Oleksii Lytvynenko, 44, pleaded guilty on Wednesday and faces up to 20 years in prison with sentencing set for Sept. 10, 2026.
- He admitted he joined the Conti conspiracy by about September 2021, worked on coding a malware "loader," and possessed stolen data from 12 victims including eight in the United States.
- Prosecutors say Conti infected more than 1,000 victims across 47 U.S. jurisdictions and about 31 countries and that the FBI estimates at least $150 million in ransom payments from the group.
- Authorities allege Lytvynenko and co-conspirators extorted roughly $634,000 in Bitcoin from two Tennessee victims and leaked stolen files after a refused $3 million demand, including data that disrupted local government services.
- The case follows his July 2023 arrest in Cork, Ireland and October 2025 extradition to the U.S., and it is being prosecuted as part of the FBI’s Operation Riptide to target ransomware offenders, their infrastructure, and financial networks.