According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), on October 2, 2025, Kevin Tyler Martin of Roanoke, Texas, and two co-conspirators were charged with three felonies including Conspiracy to Interfere with Interstate Commerce by Extortion, Interference with Interstate Commerce by Extortion, and Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer. From around May 2023 through April 2025, Martin and co-conspirators "used their sophisticated cybersecurity training and experience to commit ransomware attacks — the very type of crime that they should have been working to stop" according to Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva.
Martin and another co-conspirator "successfully deployed the ransomware known as ALPHV BlackCat against multiple victims located throughout the United States and agreed to pay the ALPHV BlackCat administrators a 20% share of any ransoms received in exchange for access to the ransomware and ALPHV BlackCat’s extortion platform. During this time, Martin was employed as a ransomware threat negotiator with DigitalMint.
In April, 2026, Martin was sentenced to four years in federal prison.
