In April, Noah Michael Urban pleaded guilty in a Florida courtroom to charges he had faced in two separate federal cases. Yesterday, he was sentenced in a Florida courtroom to ten years in prison and $13 million in restitution.
In the Florida case, Urban, known online as “King Bob,” “Sosa,” “Elijah,” “Anthony Ramirez” and “Gustavo Fring,” pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count each of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Urban, believed to be a member of Scattered Spider, was accused of stealing at least $800,000 in cryptocurrency from five different victims between August 2022 and March 2023 using SIM swapping.
In the California case, Urban pleaded guilty to charges of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Others indicted with Urban in the California case were identified as Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, a.k.a. “AD,” of College Station, Texas; Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, of Dallas, Texas; and Joel Martin Evans, a.k.a. “joeleoli,” of Jacksonville, North Carolina. Federal prosecutors also unsealed a complaint charging Tyler Robert Buchanan, 22, of the United Kingdom, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Urban was also alleged to be a notorious music leaker, and had been accused of leaking unreleased music of artists like Playboi Carti, Ariana Grande and Lil Uzi Vert. There were no charges filed against him that specifically identified artists or music leaks, however.
Had Urban not pled guilty and been convicted on all of the original charges he had faced, he could have been sentenced to something like 170 years. That, of course, would never happen, but even 10 years and $13 million may have surprised some people as the prison time was more than the prosecution had requested.
Urban’s sentencing hearing was yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, reportedly posting from county jail, Urban posted on X.com (Twitter):
He also gave Brian Krebs the following statement, describing the sentence as unjust:
“The judge purposefully ignored my age as a factor because of the fact another Scattered Spider member hacked him personally during the course of my case,” Urban said in reply to questions, noting that he was sending the messages from a Florida county jail. “He should have been removed as a judge much earlier on. But staying in county jail is torture.”
Pity for himself and anger at the judge? Was there any genuine remorse for his victims? There does not appear to be any plea statement from Urban docketed in the case, but the docket has not been updated since August 13.
Will a sentence of ten years prison and $13 million in restitution make any other young people think long and hard about crime and being members of Scattered Spider or “The Com?”
One purpose — but not the sole purpose — of prison sentences is to hopefully act as a deterrent to others. Will it, though?