Two students from Jacksonville could be sent to jail for up to 20 years after they pled guilty to the theft of bitcoins valued at $4 million. In 2013, the pair hacked the Sheep Marketplace, a DarkNet site and took 5,400 bitcoins. The seized bitcoins will be sold off, and the local Sheriff\'s Office will benefit from the $1.7 million raised.

Nathan Gibson and Sean Harrison Mackert have both appeared in court in recent days and pled guilty to the crime of wire fraud. They were caught when they cashed out the stolen bitcoins and deposited the money into various bank accounts. Police traced the transactions and arrested the two men.

Under sentencing guidelines, both of men, who are aged in their mid-twenties could face up to two decades behind bars. However, Richard Landes, the pairs defence attorney believes that his clients should be allowed to walk free, saying that this was a victimless crime, as if there was a victim, the police would have returned the money rather than seizing it. However, the prosecutors and police argue that the money was raised via illegal activity on the DarkWeb and so must be sized by the authorities.