US Charges Former DigitalMint Negotiator for Allegedly Partnering With BlackCat in Ransomware Extortion

Former DigitalMint ransomware negotiator Angelo Martino pleaded guilty to conspiring with ALPHV/BlackCat operators and U.S.-based accomplices to attack and extort American organizations while simultaneously serving in a trusted incident-response role. Prosecutors said Martino used insider access to share confidential victim information — including negotiation positions, strategies, and insurance policy limits — with BlackCat actors, helping drive up ransom demands. He was previously charged with conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion after surrendering to U.S. Marshals, and he now faces up to 20 years in prison.

Court filings allege Martino worked with former DigitalMint negotiator Kevin Tyler Martin and former Sygnia incident response manager Ryan Goldberg in at least 10 attacks, including cases where five victims hired DigitalMint and were assigned Martino as their negotiator. Authorities said the group acted as BlackCat affiliates, paid the gang a 20% share for use of its ransomware and extortion portal, and extracted more than $75.25 million across multiple incidents, including payments exceeding $25 million and one Florida medical-sector extortion that yielded about $1.2 million in Bitcoin. Law enforcement has seized roughly $10 million or more in Martino’s assets, while DigitalMint said it was unaware of the scheme, fired the implicated employees, cooperated with investigators, and added stronger oversight, auditing, and logging controls.