The United States government has obtained legal ownership of more than $400 million in cryptocurrencies, real estate, and other assets connected to the Helix cryptocurrency mixing service. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The assets were seized from Larry Dean Harmon, who operated Helix between 2014 and 2017. During that period, Helix processed over $300 million in cryptocurrency transactions. Harmon pleaded guilty in August 2021 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced in November 2024 to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also received a forfeiture money judgment and had his seized property forfeited.
On January 21, 2026, Judge Howell of the District Court for the District of Columbia issued a final order declaring the assets forfeited to the government after a settlement with a mortgage-holder on one of Harmon’s properties.
According to court documents, Helix was widely used on the darknet by individuals seeking to launder proceeds from illegal activities such as drug sales. The service was linked to Grams, a darknet search engine also run by Harmon. Helix processed about 354,468 bitcoin—worth roughly $311 million at the time—for its customers. Many of these funds moved between darknet drug markets and Helix. Harmon collected commissions and fees from these transactions.
Helix and Grams were built to support major darknet markets during their operation. The Application Program Interface (API) provided by Helix allowed darknet markets to integrate its services directly into their bitcoin withdrawal systems. Investigators tracked tens of millions of dollars from these markets through Helix.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, IRS Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco, and FBI Assistant Director Brett Leatherman joined Pirro in announcing the development.
The investigation was conducted by the IRS-CI Cyber Crimes Unit and FBI Washington Field Office, with support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Authorities in Belize also assisted with asset seizure efforts through coordination with U.S. Embassy Belmopan and cooperation with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock, Jr., Trial Attorney C. Alden Pelker from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), and Christopher B. Brown from the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section.
“This case demonstrates that those who think the darknet provides a safe harbor for crime are dead wrong. My office, the Department of Justice, and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold criminals accountable—whether they act in broad daylight or hide behind a computer screen. We will find them, we will prosecute them, and we will cut them down,” said Pirro.
