A former semi-pro rugby player from Seattle was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison on Wednesday for running a fake crypto mining scheme that defrauded over 40 investors out of nearly $900,000.

Shane Donovan Moore, 37, claimed his company, Quantum Donovan LLC, would use investor money to buy cryptocurrency mining equipment. But federal prosecutors say Moore never acquired a single machine. Instead, he ran a classic Ponzi scheme—paying early investors with money from new ones while funneling the rest into his personal expenses.

“Mr. Moore used the newness of cryptocurrency to commit an age-old fraud – a Ponzi scheme,” Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller said. “He left a path of damaged relationships in his wake.”

From January 2021 to October 2022, Moore promised investors daily returns of 1%, supposedly based on the output of high-powered mining computers. But according to court filings, he mixed investor funds with his personal bank accounts, spending the money on luxury travel, designer luggage, electronics, and rent for a high-end apartment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Wynne told the court that Moore burned through hundreds of thousands of dollars, causing direct losses of more than $387,000 to investors.

Many of those investors were people Moore had met through rugby, and they in turn brought in friends and family from across Washington, Oregon, Utah, Connecticut, and New Jersey. As the money dried up and payouts stopped, accusations of fraud quickly followed.

Authorities charged Moore in March 2024, and on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said his actions caused not just financial harm but emotional and psychological distress to his victims.

Moore’s case is just one of many crypto-related frauds landing in U.S. courts this year. Regulators cracked down on a wave of scams—from Las Vegas fraudsters promising AI-powered mining profits to promoters like Antonia Perez Hernandez, who was sentenced in January for her role in the Forcount crypto Ponzi.