Crypto influencer calling himself ‘CP3O’ jailed after $3.5M scam with fake firms and stolen cloud power

In a bizarre twist that feels straight out of a cyber-thriller, Charles O. Parks III, also known online as “CP3O“, has been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for orchestrating a massive cryptojacking scheme that defrauded two major cloud computing providers of more than $3.5 million.

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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Friday that the 35-year-old Brooklyn man exploited fake businesses — including names like “MultiMillionaire LLC” and “CP3O LLC” — to gain privileged computing access. Once inside, he hijacked resources to secretly mine Ethereum (ETH) between January and August 2021, racking up computing bills that were never paid and minting nearly $1 million in crypto.

Charles Parks manipulated technology, stole millions in computer resources, and illegally mined cryptocurrency — and today’s sentencing holds him fully accountable for his deceitful actions,” said Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department.

He lied about helping 10,000 students — but no one ever enrolled

According to court filings, Parks told one cloud provider that he needed the computing power to build an online media training platform that would educate more than 10,000 students. In reality, the DOJ confirmed, no company existed, and there were no students. The only thing he trained was an army of crypto-mining bots.

When the providers noticed “questionable data usage” and huge unpaid subscription balances, Parks stalled and dodged accountability, the DOJ said.

Crypto crime turned into real-world luxury

Parks didn’t just hoard the mined Ethereum. Prosecutors said he laundered the proceeds through various crypto exchanges, NFT marketplaces, payment processors, and even banks, converting digital assets into cold hard cash.

He then lived like a digital king — buying a Mercedes-Benz, expensive jewelry, and funding first-class travel. He also used the illicit crypto gains to build an online persona, branding himself as a crypto success story and selling subscriptions to a self-improvement coaching program under his so-called “MultiMillionaire Mentality.”

His website, still live at the time of sentencing, offered monthly wealth coaching for $10 and one-on-one sessions at $150 — with “rewards” in a self-issued crypto token.

From crypto coach to criminal record

Despite being charged with money laundering, wire fraud, and unlawful monetary transactions — crimes that could have carried a 50-year sentence — Parks struck a plea deal in December 2024, pleading guilty to wire fraud alone.

The court has ordered Parks to forfeit $500,000 and surrender his Mercedes-Benz. Restitution will be decided in a later hearing.

Charles Parks] isn’t the innovator and thought leader he claimed to be,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr, slamming Parks’ carefully curated online image as “a smokescreen of lies.

The indictment also revealed that Parks created fraudulent accounts with at least two cloud giants — including a subsidiary of a Seattle-based consumer electronics company (widely believed to be Amazon) and another headquartered in Redmond, Washington, possibly referring to Microsoft.

What is cryptojacking?

Cryptojacking is the unauthorized use of someone else’s computing power to mine cryptocurrency. Unlike other cybercrimes, cryptojacking often runs silently in the background — eating up electricity, processing power, and cloud credits without the owner’s knowledge.

In Parks’ case, the scale of abuse was anything but silent. Over eight months, his operation burned through millions in computing power, while also evading detection with fake identities, corporate filings, and misleading promises.

A warning to the digital world

Parks’ sentencing sends a clear message: the U.S. government is watching the crypto space closely, and even those who hide behind anonymity, tech jargon, or viral influencer culture will be held accountable.

It’s a reminder that while blockchain promises transparency and decentralization, criminals can still exploit loopholes — and eventually, the law catches up.