Woman who once bought bitcoins for $300,000 cash in paper bags sent to prison

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A woman who for years went by the name "Bitcoin Maven" on localbitcoins.com-a peer-to-peer website for buying and selling anonymous bitcoins in person-was sentenced Monday to 366 days in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and a $20,000 fine.

While selling bitcoins is not inherently illegal, doing so in such large volumes without keeping extensive records to mitigate money laundering is.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles called the case against Theresa Lynn Tetley-a 50-year-old former stockbroker who bought and sold several million dollars' worth of bitcoins-the first of its kind in the region.

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