Russia: Man who stole friend’s mining rig gets 3 years’ jail time

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A Russian court has convicted a man who stole his friend’s block reward mining rig in early 2021, but was unable to use it as he didn’t know how to operate it. The man will serve a three-year suspended sentence and three years of probation for his crime.

The prosecutor’s office in Yaroslavl, a region northeast of Moscow, announced the conviction recently. According to the statement, the 34-year-old man was a resident of Zavolzhsky District. He was convicted under the Russian Criminal Code for theft of other people’s property, with illegal entry into a person’s house.

According to the statement, the man entered the garage of his friend back in February this year and stole block reward mining equipment worth more than 1.6 million rubles ($21,800).

At his hearing, the man, whose name wasn’t disclosed, admitted to the crime. He revealed that he had given back the equipment he had stolen and was deeply remorseful. He further revealed to the court that he was unable to use the mining equipment as he lacked the knowledge to operate it.

The court sentenced the man to three years of suspended imprisonment and a three-year probation, allowing him to possibly escape spending time behind bars if he adheres to the terms of his sentence.

The man isn’t the first to get into legal trouble over block reward mining in the Eastern European country. Last year, Russian authorities busted a post office boss who allegedly had illegally been mining digital currencies using work computers. The man had cost the post office $30,000 rubles ($430) and was charged with abuse of power.

Still in 2020, Russian police arrested 10 suspects for illegal digital currency block reward mining. The suspects had been stealing electricity, allegedly using equipment that understated the amount of power they consumed.

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