KOSOVAR NATIONAL PLEADS GUILTY TO OPERATING RYDOX CYBERCRIME MARKETPLACE USED TO SELL STOLEN IDENTITIES AND CRIMINAL TOOLS

PITTSBURGH, Pa. — A 28-year-old Kosovar national has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges tied to the creation and operation of Rydox, an illicit cybercrime marketplace used to buy, sell, and trade stolen personal information, access devices, means of identification, and tools used to commit fraud and other cybercrime.

Ardit Kutleshi pleaded guilty on September 22, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak in the Western District of Pennsylvania to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents, Rydox had operated since at least 2016 and facilitated more than 7,600 transactions involving stolen personally identifiable information, stolen access devices, means of identification, and cybercrime tools and services.

Federal prosecutors said the brothers used Rydox as a criminal marketplace where cybercriminals could obtain stolen information and tools used to carry out cybercrime and fraud. The transactions included the sale of personal information stolen from victims located in the United States.

Kutleshi operated the marketplace with his brother, Jetmir Kutleshi, who previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December 2025 before being deported back to Kosovo.

U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti said the marketplace allowed criminals to profit from stolen personal information while creating continuing harm for victims whose identities and data were placed into criminal circulation.

FBI Pittsburgh Assistant Special Agent in Charge Amie Loos said the takedown targeted more than a single website. According to the FBI, dismantling Rydox disrupted criminal infrastructure that supported fraud and identity theft affecting thousands of victims.

The case reached the United States after an international investigation.

Kutleshi was arrested by Kosovo law enforcement in December 2024 and later extradited from Kosovo to the United States in 2025.

In December 2024, the United States judicially seized the Rydox.cc domain, which had hosted and facilitated access to the marketplace.

The domain seizure prevented the site’s owners and other users from continuing to use that address to buy and sell cybercrime tools and stolen personal information belonging to U.S. victims.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said Kutleshi’s guilty plea demonstrates the government’s ability to pursue cybercriminals across international borders through international cooperation, technical expertise, and law enforcement.

FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman said Rydox offered cybercrime tools, stolen identities, and login information belonging to thousands of people. He said the FBI and its foreign partners dismantled the marketplace and pursued the individuals responsible for operating it.

The FBI’s Pittsburgh Field Office investigated the case in coordination with the Kosovo State Prosecutor’s Special Prosecution Office, the Kosovo Police Cybercrime Investigation Directorate, the Albanian Special Anti-Corruption Body, the Royal Malaysia Police Commercial Crime Investigation Department, and the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia.

The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Stockey of the Western District of Pennsylvania and Senior Counsel Thomas Dougherty of the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting the case.

CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime and intellectual property offenses in coordination with federal, state, international, and private-sector partners.

Since 2020, the section has secured convictions against more than 180 cyber and intellectual property offenders and obtained court orders directing the return of more than $350 million in victim funds.

Kutleshi now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison on the aggravated identity theft count and a maximum sentence of 20 years on the money laundering conspiracy count.

His sentencing is scheduled for February 9, 2027.

Judge Hornak will determine the final sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The guilty plea moves Kutleshi’s case beyond the allegation stage and establishes his criminal responsibility for the offenses to which he admitted guilt.

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