A man convicted of an NFT scam has died in an apparent suicide as he awaited sentencing over the wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Berman Jerry Nowlin, 21, was found guilty in November 2024 of helping orchestrate the sale of a NFT "rug pull" worth $400,000. Nowlin, alongside the 25-year-old Devin Alan Rhoden, carried out the sale of two Solana NFT collections before cancelling a third collection.
Nowlin, Rhoden Deleted The NFT Collection's Discord and Twitter Accounts After Taking Payment from Users
The Department of Justice report explained that these projects were successful due to "outright false statements," including partners with "prominent businesses" and utility that holders would be granted. Not only that, but the cancelled third collection was defined as a rug pull by the Department due to the team deleting Discord and Twitter accounts after taking payment.
The NFT collections were sold in 2022, starting with "Undead Apes" then "Undead Lady Apes" before the sale of "Undead Tombstone" was cut short. The total brought in by the duo totalled almost $400,000 as hundreds of victims invested in the projects.
Rhoden pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in May 2024, while Nowlin took it to trial but was found guilty in November.
Nowlin's Mother Says Her Son Became Depressed After the Conviction
In a heartfelt interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Nowlin's mother says that Nowlin became deeply depressed and withdrawn following the guilty verdict. His family argues that he was an unaware accessory to the scheme, pointing to Rhoden as the one to blame.
"In his eyes, I don't think he thought he did anything wrong," Nowlin's brother, Daniel Barker, said. "My brother was just a young, naïve kid that kind of got taken advantage of."
Nowlin was the developer of the projects—in charge of the behind-the-scenes creation of the tokens—while Rhoden was heading the marketing side of the project. Nowlin's attorney, J. Jervis Wise, argued that the 21-year-old had no knowledge of the rug pull plans.
"Nowlin didn't have any knowledge of what Rhoden was doing," Wise told the Tampa Bay Times. "Nowlin didn't join in any plan with Rhoden to try to defraud anyone."
Nowlin was Facing Five Years in Prison
Ultimately, however, the Department of Justice found evidence that Nowlin had played a direct role in the scheme. Namely, the report found that he executed the money laundering via "chain-hopping" and the use of illegal crypto mixers that obfuscate the sender and receiver of tokens. The funds were traced directly back to his bank account.
Nowlin was facing up to five years in federal prison at his sentencing scheduled later this month. However, he was found dead on Dec. 21 at his Alabama home. His cause of death is currently unclear but his family confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that he took his own life.
