Angelo Martino, a 41-year-old former employee of cybersecurity incident response firm DigitalMint, has pleaded guilty to participating in a series of BlackCat/ALPHV ransomware attacks targeting US companies in 2023.
Martino was charged alongside two other ransomware negotiators, Ryan Clifford Goldberg and Kevin Tyler Martin, who worked with Sygnia and DigitalMint. All three faced charges including conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion and intentional damage to protected computer systems. Goldberg and Martin have also pleaded guilty and could face up to 20 years in prison each.
Initially identified only as “Co-Conspirator 1” in an October 2025 indictment, Martino was publicly named after court documents were unsealed in March. Prosecutors say that while acting as a negotiator for five victim organizations, Martino shared sensitive details, such as negotiation strategies and insurance coverage limits, with BlackCat operators, allowing them to extract higher ransom payments.
Between April 2023 and April 2025, Martino and his co-defendants allegedly operated as affiliates of the ransomware group, demanding payments while threatening to release stolen data. According to prosecutors, the trio paid a 20% cut of their proceeds to BlackCat administrators in exchange for access to ransomware tools and infrastructure.
The attacks impacted at least five US organizations, including a financial services firm that paid $25.66 million and a nonprofit that paid $26.79 million in ransom. Other victims included law firms, school districts, medical facilities, and additional financial institutions.