Mutant Ape Planet: guilty plea verified, time-served sentence reported
Michel’s plea is documented in EDNY records. Later reporting describes time served; the signed judgment remains outside the verified source set.
Record limits · Plea verified in DOJ and the RECAP hearing minute. The November 2024 sentence is attributed to secondary reporting; the signed judgment and later docket history were not obtained.
- Cited claims
- 3
- Source records
- 3
- Edition revision
- 3
In this investigation
The verified plea and the later sentencing report
Aurelien Michel’s guilty plea is recorded in the Eastern District of New York docket minute for 14 November 2023, ECF 29, case 1:23-cr-00418. DOJ identified the offence as conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving Mutant Ape Planet purchasers. A later BlockTribune report says Michel was sentenced to time served on 1 November 2024. The latter is attributed reporting: we did not obtain the signed sentencing judgment.
What the plea concerned
The DOJ account describes promises of rewards and other benefits intended to attract NFT purchasers, intentional non-delivery, and diversion of proceeds for personal benefit while promises continued. Those admitted circumstances go beyond an NFT losing value or a team missing one milestone. The relevant record concerns this particular scheme and defendant; it is not a finding that every unsuccessful NFT launch is fraudulent.
What time served would mean in this report
The reported sentence should not be described as an acquittal or as a withdrawal of the guilty plea. Nor should the potential maximum penalty mentioned before sentencing be substituted for the punishment reportedly imposed. Without the judgment, we do not present the complete set of conditions, financial orders, credit calculations or subsequent amendments as independently checked. Readers can follow the court-record and reporting links separately below.
Keep forfeiture separate from compensation
DOJ’s plea announcement describes an agreement to pay $1.4 million in forfeiture. That agreement is not proof that every purchaser received a refund, and it does not establish the amount an individual holder could recover. Sale proceeds, a sentencing loss calculation, forfeiture and restitution answer different questions. This article makes no claim that a distribution to purchasers has occurred.
Identity and chronology
The collection is Mutant Ape Planet. It must not be confused with Mutant Ape Yacht Club because of similar branding. This edition replaces a plea-only archive with a timeline that includes the later sentencing report and identifies its evidential limit. The original article URL is retained so existing dossier links remain valid. A complete current procedural account still requires the signed judgment and any later entries.
Record checked on 25 October 2026
Plea verified in DOJ and the RECAP hearing minute. The November 2024 sentence is attributed to secondary reporting; the signed judgment and later docket history were not obtained.
Evidence & sources
- Adjudicated finding
Aurelien Michel pleaded guilty in November 2023 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud involving false promises to Mutant Ape Planet NFT purchasers.
Supporting excerpt: Nonfungible Token (NFT) Developer Pleads Guilty to an International Scheme to Defraud NFT Purchasers
pled guilty
Nonfungible Token (NFT) Developer Pleads Guilty to an International Scheme to Defraud NFT Purchasers ↗ - Adjudicated finding
The EDNY docket minute records Aurelien Michel entering a guilty plea to Count 1 on 14 November 2023.
Supporting excerpt: EDNY docket, ECF 29: Michel plea hearing minute, 14 November 2023 (RECAP copy)
Plea entered by Aurelien Michel (1) Guilty Count 1.
EDNY docket, ECF 29: Michel plea hearing minute, 14 November 2023 (RECAP copy) ↗ - Source reported
BlockTribune reported on 12 November 2024 that Michel received a time-served sentence on 1 November 2024. This is a secondary account, not a verified copy of the judgment.
Supporting excerpt: BlockTribune, 12 November 2024: reported Michel sentence (secondary source)
to time served in connection with a $2.9 million fraudulent scheme
BlockTribune, 12 November 2024: reported Michel sentence (secondary source) ↗
