SAN DIEGO — A Canadian man who sold encrypted BlackBerry smartphones to criminals worldwide that enabled them to sell drugs and even plan murders while avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison.
Ramos also was told to forfeit $80 million in earnings, which included homes, international bank account holdings, cryptocurrency and gold coins.Ramos ran a company called Phantom Secure that offered gutted, uncrackable smartphones that, for a subscription, could send encrypted text messages through a secure network based in Panama and Hong Kong.
It was the first U.S. conviction involving someone who provided encryption technology to criminal organizations. Four of Ramos’ co-defendants remain at large. But prosecutors said Ramos set up his system intentionally to block interception of criminal communications by law enforcement.The anonymous clients used nicknames that included “leadslinger, The.cartel, The.killa, Elchapo66 and Knee_capper9,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.