U.S. federal prosecutors have charged the trio with hacking the networks of five U.S. companies with BlackCat (also known as ALPHV) ransomware and extorting them between May and November 2023.
Ryan Clifford Goldberg, Kevin Tyler Martin, and an unnamed Florida-based co-conspirator (also known as “Co-conspirator 1”), all U.S. nationals, allegedly used ransomware strains against a Tampa, Florida-based medical device company, a Maryland-based pharmaceutical company, a California-based clinic, a California-based engineering company, and a Virginia-based drone manufacturer.
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported on the indictment over the weekend, saying Martin and co-conspirator 1 were employed as ransomware threat negotiators for a company called DigitalMint at the time of these incidents. Mr. Goldberg was an incident response manager at cybersecurity firm Sygnia.
All three individuals no longer work for their respective companies, and both DigitalMint and Sygnia say they are cooperating with law enforcement regarding this matter. In July 2025, Bloomberg reported that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating a former DigitalMint employee who allegedly received a portion of the ransomware payments.
According to the indictment, Goldberg, Martin, and co-conspirators are accused of intentionally engaging in a conspiracy to “enrich” by illicitly accessing victims’ networks and computers, stealing data, installing BlackCat ransomware on their systems in exchange for cryptocurrency payments, and distributing the illicit proceeds among the victims.
On or about May 13, 2023, the defendants attacked a medical device company and demanded a ransom payment of approximately $10 million. The company ended up paying approximately $1,274,000 worth of virtual currency at the time of payment. Around May 2023, the defendants attacked the company and demanded an unspecified amount of ransom. Around July 2023, the defendants attacked a clinic and demanded a ransom payment of approximately $5 million. Around October 2023, the defendants attacked an engineering company and demanded a ransom payment of approximately $1 million. Around November 2023, the defendants attacked a drone manufacturer and demanded a ransom payment of approximately $300,000.
It is said that he could not extort money from other victims. Martin has maintained his innocence, but court records show that Goldberg told the FBI in an interview that he was recruited by an unnamed co-conspirator to “attempt to ransom several companies” and that he carried out the attacks to escape debt. The third person has not yet been charged.
Mr. Goldberg and Mr. Martin are charged with conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce by extortion, obstruction of interstate commerce by extortion, and intentional damage to a protected computer. These charges carry a potential sentence of up to 50 years in federal prison.
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