The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Michael Prime’s lawsuit

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Michael Prime’s motion seeking the return of nearly 3,443 Bitcoin, now worth roughly $345 million. Circuit Judges stated that it would be inequitable to award Prime an equitable remedy, even if the Bitcoin existed, which is a big if.  

Circuit Judge Hon. Britt Grant noted that Michael Prime was arrested in 2019 for counterfeiting and identity theft. The orange external hard drive, which Prime claimed to contain the BTC loot over four years later, was among the evidence collected by the police. However, Grant also noted a problem: Prime failed to mention Bitcoin at least three times before in his financial disclosure statement.

Judge Grant observed that Prime had the chance during his interview with the probation officer, and at his sentencing hearing, Prime had represented that he owned very little Bitcoin. The Judge said the government had relied on these representations and abandoned its search for the Bitcoin. Additionally, the government, consistent with its ordinary practices and after giving notice to Prime, wiped whatever devices it could, including the hard drive in question.

Court says it is too late

The Appeals Court stated that Prime had denied for years that he had that much Bitcoin at all, adding that Bitcoin was not on the list when Prime sought to collect his assets after his release from prison. The court concluded that it was too late, regardless of whether a hard drive containing the alleged Bitcoin existed or not, because the government had destroyed all evidence. 

Meanwhile, Circuit Judges Hon. Jill Pryor, Hon. Britt Grant, and Hon. Stanley Marcus agreed and affirmed the district court’s ruling, which, citing Prime’s delays and denials, concluded that laches barred his request for Bitcoin. Prime now claims that the U.S. government owes him at least $345 million in Bitcoin because it destroyed the hard drive containing his Bitcoin key.

After his 2019 arrest, Prime admitted to selling counterfeit IDs and credit cards online and accepting Bitcoin as payment. He also explained that he was paid $1,000 per month in Bitcoin to work for a website that sold stolen credit card data. 

Federal agents then obtained warrants authorizing the seizure of Prime’s crypto, but they came up with nothing after three attempts. One agent reported that no crypto, private keys, or recovery seeds were found, and that no contents were seized or located at any Coinbase account. Agents were also unable to gain access to any crypto wallet in the third attempt. 

Prime fails to assert his Bitcoin claim  

The Appeals Court ruled that Prime failed to assert his claim to the Bitcoin for more than three years and, in fact, he repeatedly denied it. The court noted that Prime tries to explain away his previous representations, which the presiding judges said they don’t buy.  

The Circuit Judges emphasized that Prime’s Bitcoin claim is preposterous, and he needed to disclose the amount of Bitcoin he owned in his previous representations. At sentencing, Prime’s attorney also acknowledged that the evidence did not support his original claim to a significant amount of Bitcoin. In fact, he admitted that the Bitcoin in question was essentially non-existent, other than what Prime had from his mining days in Seattle over a decade ago. A significant portion of the Bitcoin was used to purchase boats and cars, which the government subsequently seized.

Meanwhile, the Judges stressed that Prime’s delay was inexcusable. They said Prime should have asked the court to appoint counsel to help him request the return of seized items, including the hard drive that contained Bitcoin. Prime does not justify his previously repeated assertions that he owned very little Bitcoin. 

Finally, the Judges observed that the delay prejudiced the government. They said they have little difficulty concluding that the government would not have destroyed the hard drive if it had knowledge that it contained hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin. The judges emphasized that forcing the government to now find and hand over 3,443 replacement BTC is prejudicial in anyone’s book.

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