A US citizen has pleaded guilty to charges of plotting to sell stolen financial information on darknet markets.

Michael Michalo, 40, founded a dark web carding site called Skynet Market. According to indictment Michalo also led two other market building campaigns in early 2016. His role was to obtain information about stolen payment cards. The perpetrator was arrested in March 2022.

Michalo also admitted to selling payment card data on the AlphaBay darknet marketplace, while his partners sold card data he received on the Hansa and Wall Street Market darknet marketplaces.

The Department of Justice said that, while operating under the username “ggmccloud1”, the defendant earned at least $1 million in cryptocurrencies between February 22, 2016 and October 1, 2019. At least $4.5 million will be confiscated from Mihalo (the amount is based on the fact that the criminal’s digital assets have grown over the years).

Michalo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud, one count of access device fraud, and six counts of money laundering. Michalo faces a maximum prison term of 75 years.

Two more accomplices of Michalo are involved in the case. One of them, 40-year-old Taylor Ross Staats, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud. $21,000 was confiscated from Staats. Staats’ main duty was to verify that the stolen payment cards were valid. A third accomplice, British citizen Simon Kaura, is awaiting extradition to the US to face charges.