Berman Jerry Nolen died of an apparent suicide while awaiting sentencing for his role in an NFT “pulling the rug” involving online fraud and money laundering, his family told Tampa Bay Times.

In November 2024, a US court found the 21-year-old guilty of helping organize a $400,000 NFT “pull mat” sale. Nowlin, along with 25-year-old Devin Alan Rhoden, sold two Solana NFT sets before canceling the third.

the Ministry of Justice report He explained that these projects were successful due to "blatantly false statements", including the partners having "outstanding companies" and the facilities that would be given to the holders. Not only that, but the third canceled group was defined as a rug-pulling by management due to the team deleting their Discord and Twitter accounts after receiving payment.

NFT sets were sold in 2022, starting with “Undead Apes” and then “Undead Lady Apes” before the “Undead Tombstone” sale was cut short. The total amount brought in by the duo amounted to nearly $400,000, with hundreds of victims investing in the projects.

Rhoden pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in May 2024, while Nolen put him on trial but he was. He was convicted in November.

In an intimate interview with Tampa Bay TimesNolen's mother says Nolen became severely depressed and withdrawn after the guilty verdict. His family claims he was an unaware accomplice to the scheme, pointing to Rhoden as the person responsible.

"In his eyes, I don't think he thought he did anything wrong," said Daniel Parker, Nolin's brother. “My brother was just a naive little kid who was kind of taken advantage of.”

The argument here is that Nowlin was the projects developer - and was responsible for creating the codes behind the scenes - while Rhoden was heading up the marketing side of the project. Nowlin's attorney, J. Jervis Wise, argued that the 21-year-old had no knowledge of the rug-pulling plans.

“Nowlin had no knowledge of what Rhoden was doing,” Wise told The New York Times. Tampa Bay Times. “Nowlin did not join in any scheme with Rhoden to try to defraud anyone.”

But eventually, the Justice Department found evidence that Nowlin played a direct role in the scheme. That is, the report found that he carried out money laundering through “chain movement” and illegal use encoder mixers That confuses the sender and receiver of tokens. The money was returned directly to his bank account.

Sentencing in January, he was scheduled to face up to five years in federal prison. But on December 21, Nolen died at his home in Alabama. His cause of death is currently unclear but his family has told him Tampa Bay Times He took his own life.