A Florida man who formerly worked as a ransomware negotiator has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit ransomware attacks against U.S. companies, the Justice Department announced.
Angelo Martino, 41, of Land O’Lakes, Florida, admitted to abusing his position at a U.S.-based cyber incident response firm to assist operators of the BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware variant, according to court documents. Beginning in April 2023, while working as a negotiator on behalf of multiple ransomware victims, Martino provided BlackCat attackers with confidential details about his clients’ negotiating strategies — including insurance policy limits and internal ransom positions — without the knowledge of his clients or employer. The ransomware actors paid Martino for the information, which helped maximize the ransoms victims were forced to pay.
Martino also admitted to conspiring with Ryan Goldberg of Georgia and Kevin Martin of Texas to deploy BlackCat ransomware against multiple U.S. victims between April and November 2023, prosecutors said. All three men worked in the cybersecurity industry and used their professional expertise to carry out the attacks. After successfully extorting one victim for approximately $1.2 million in Bitcoin, the men divided the proceeds three ways and laundered the funds through various means, according to court documents.
Law enforcement has seized $10 million in assets from Martino to date, including digital currency, vehicles, a food truck and a luxury fishing boat obtained with proceeds from the crimes.
“Angelo Martino’s clients trusted him to respond to ransomware threats and help thwart and remedy them on behalf of victims,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said. “Instead, he betrayed them and began launching ransomware attacks himself by assisting cyber criminals and harming victims.”
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said Martino “sold them out from the inside,” adding that the case demonstrates that those who weaponize insider access against victims “will not get to keep the proceeds of their crime.”
Martino pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct, delay or affect commerce by extortion and is scheduled to be sentenced July 9. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Goldberg and Martin separately pleaded guilty to the same charge in December 2025 and are scheduled to be sentenced April 30, each facing up to 20 years.
The announcement follows the Justice Department’s December 2023 disruption of the BlackCat ransomware network, during which the FBI developed a decryption tool that helped save victims approximately $99 million in ransom payments. The FBI’s Miami field office is leading the investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Secret Service.
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