A Utah man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after admitting to a dual-pronged criminal enterprise that defrauded investors of millions and laundered illicit cash for organized crime. Brian Garry Sewell, 54, of Washington County, faced U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen on Thursday, where the full scope of his deception—ranging from fake Ivy League degrees to phantom AI trading bots—was laid bare.
The sentencing marks the end of a years-long investigation into Sewell’s company, Rockwell Capital Management, which prosecutors described as a classic wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing operation. While posing as a sophisticated fund manager, Sewell was quietly operating an unlicensed shadow bank for criminals.
The “AI” That Never Existed
At the heart of the government’s case was a wire fraud scheme that ran from December 2017 to April 2024. Additionally, $2.9 Million was raised by Sewell through a network of more than 17 different investors during that same period. Sewell’s primary avenue for finding investors was through his own internet-based educational business, the American Bitcoin Academy. He was a mentor to many of his students with respect to the cryptocurrency industry, and he taught those interested in becoming more knowledgeable in how to invest in these cryptocurrencies.
Sewell used the ability to promise students access to proprietary AI and hi-tech machine learning trading software to generate significant amounts of profit for themselves, combined with an impressive educational resume around which to build credibility with all potential investor relationships. He provided a strong educational resume by claiming that he held a Bachelor’s Degree from Johns Hopkins University in Data Science and a Master’s degree from Stanford University (both claimed to be true).
In reality, Sewell had neither the degrees nor the technology. According to court documents, his highest level of education was a GED. The “proprietary tools” and “management team” he boasted of were nonexistent. Instead of investing the funds as promised, Sewell simply held the money in Bitcoin in his personal digital wallet. When that wallet was eventually hacked and looted, the funds vanished, leaving his victims with nothing but empty promises.
“Sewell preyed on his victims by lying about his experience and promising returns he could not deliver, leaving individuals and families to bear the consequences of his deception,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Bohls of the Salt Lake City FBI.
Washing Cash for Cartels
While his investment fraud was churning, Sewell was running a second, darker operation. From March to September 2020, he operated Rockwell Capital Management as an unlicensed money-transmitting business. This side of the business functioned as a digital laundromat, converting over $5.4 million in bulk cash into cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors also disclosed that Sewell was not doing business with regular individual investors but with outside entities who were engaged in serious criminal offenses, such as drug trafficking and fraud. Moreover, Sewell had created a means for these individuals to move their illegally obtained funds into the cryptocurrency markets without detection by circumventing all requirements for federal registration and reporting of any Anti-Money Laundering (AML) transactions. Sewell charged a percentage fee for facilitating every transaction involving the transfer of money from the criminal organization to the cryptocurrency market.
Justice Served: The Sentence and Restitution
On Thursday, Judge McIff Allen sentenced Sewell to 3 years in prison for the wire fraud count and another 36 months in prison for receiving money without a license. Both sentences will be served at the same time, resulting in a combined term of 3 years, followed by an additional 2-year period of supervised release.
The financial penalty is also very significant. Judge McIff ordered Sewell to pay nearly 3,800,000 dollars in restitution. Of this amount, 3,605,182 dollars will be payable to the individuals and companies Sewell cheated out of money (investor victims) and to mortgage companies and credit unions that were defrauded, while 217,727 will be paid to the Department of Homeland Security.
A Surge in Crypto Crime
The rise in global cryptocurrency-related crime is a growing concern, which can be directly traced back to the rise of digital assets being integrated with traditional financial institutions. Law enforcement must urgently follow suit and prosecute bad actors who have increased their use of digital currencies in Money Laundering and Fraud.
A blockchain analytics firm called Chainalysis released its report in 2026 showing the increase of illicit cryptocurrency transactions made to known illicit addresses increased by 162%, to $154 billion in 2025, from the restated amount of $57.2 billion in 2024.
The increased use of industrialised models of criminal behaviour directly related to cryptocurrencies is evident by organised crime syndicates around the world using unregulated brokers like Sewell to convert cash into cryptocurrencies that are ultimately owned anonymously.
For the investors who lost money through the American Bitcoin Academy, Sewell’s sentencing provides some measure of closure; however, many have not completely recovered from their losses. As federal regulatory agencies continue to scrutinize individuals present themselves as “crypto-gurus” (like Sewell) or promote the use of unregulated exchanges, it is important to remember that if an investment opportunity requires a person to have an advanced degree in physics to fully comprehend but is marketed by someone who is not able to demonstrate that level of academic success, it is in your best interest to withdraw your interest.
