Trenton Richard David Johnston, a 20-year-old Canadian national, has been sentenced to 25 months in prison for his role in a $13 million cryptocurrency theft. The sentence was handed down by a federal judge in Miami on October 26, according to court reporting by CBC, and is less than half of the 51 to 63 months that prosecutors had recommended under his plea agreement.

Johnston, who was arrested in March, will receive credit for the roughly seven months he has already spent in custody. Only about $3.8 million of the stolen funds has been recovered.

Lighter Sentence Than Prosecutors Sought

Johnston pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Prosecutors had recommended a 51- to 63-month prison term under the plea agreement, and a separate wire fraud conspiracy charge was dropped. Under the May indictment from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, Johnston had faced a maximum of 20 years on each count.

His lawyer, Brooke C. Watson, said the sentence came in lighter than prosecutors sought because Johnston "quickly admitted his conduct" and was "tremendously sorry for what he has done." The court also weighed Johnston's "substantial assistance" in the investigation and prosecution of other, unnamed suspects.

Recoveries and the Underlying Scheme

After his arrest, Johnston surrendered roughly $3.8 million in Bitcoin and Ether, less than a third of the at least $13.04 million in stolen funds attributed to him.

According to Homeland Security Investigations, Johnston and his co-conspirators posed as support staff for crypto companies and as Google representatives to target victims. In the largest theft, on March 13, the group took approximately 185 BTC from a California victim, worth close to $13 million at the time. Impersonating Google employees and Trezor representatives, they stripped the victim of his life savings. Nothing has been recovered from that theft, according to the complaint.

In a separate incident in February, another California victim lost roughly $41,000 in ETH after being convinced that his Google email and Coinbase accounts had been compromised. It remains unclear whether the court has approved a recovery plan for Johnston's victims.

Deportation and Lifestyle Spending

Johnston began the fraud scheme in January 2024, when he was 17. He still faces a Florida drug possession charge and accepted a removal order from a U.S. immigration judge in April. He has been in the United States since October 2024, overstaying the 12-month tourist visa he received when entering at Buffalo, New York, from Fort Erie, Ontario. He is expected to be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation to Canada.

Prosecutors said the stolen proceeds funded "an extravagant nightlife and entertainment lifestyle." Court records list a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, two BMWs, jewelry, and a private jet rental among the purchases. Much of that spending, totaling about $1.19 million over three months, was arranged by co-defendant Brandon Michael Tardibone, a 28-year-old Miami exotic car dealer who also pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and faces a recommended 27 to 33 months in prison.

The case surfaced in March, when a deputy pulled over a white Rolls-Royce Cullinan in North Miami. Johnston, riding in the back seat, was carrying 21 suspected amphetamine tablets in a Hermes bag, leading to a state drug charge.

The case adds to a recent string of social engineering prosecutions in the Miami area. Tardibone's pending sentencing, Johnston's expected transfer to ICE, and any further effort to recover the unrecovered funds are the remaining developments identified in the case; the article does not establish that a victim-recovery plan has been approved.