Pastor linked to Coin.mx bribery sentenced to 5 years in jail

The Coin.mx bribery case has ended with a five-year prison sentence for a New Jersey pastor.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan ordered 47-year-old Trevon Gross to jail as well as to pay a $12,000 fine, according to a Reuters report.

U.S. prosecutors said Gross took bribes from Anthony Murgio, operator of Coin.mx exchange, and his partner, Yuri Lebedev, in exchange for letting them take over the Hope Federal Credit Union, a small credit union that Gross ran from his church. The bribes included $150,000 in donations to Gross’s church, HOPE Cathedral in Jackson, New Jersey, according to investigators.

Prosecutors said Murgio used the credit union to avoid having banks and regulators look into its activities by disguising the transactions as restaurant delivery charges and online purchases of collectible items.