Prime asked the court to order the return of an orange external hard drive that federal agents seized during his 2019 arrest for counterfeiting, identity theft, and related offenses. He claimed years later that the drive held the key to approximately 3,443 BTC, which he now says the government destroyed.
The Eleventh Circuit noted that Prime did not assert ownership of such a large Bitcoin balance for more than three years. During that time, he filed financial disclosures, spoke with a probation officer, and appeared at sentencing without mentioning any major Bitcoin holdings. In those records, he reported owning between $200 and $1,500 in Bitcoin.
Judge Britt Grant wrote that Prime “changed his tune” after the plea agreement. At sentencing, his own attorney acknowledged that the evidence did not support the earlier suggestion that Prime controlled thousands of Bitcoin. The defense described only modest mining-related holdings and assets the government had already seized, such as vehicles and boats.