Two Individuals Sentenced for Illegally Tapping High-Voltage Lines to Mine Bitcoin in Pig Pen; Principal Offender Receives 10-Year Sentence

Odaily According to documents disclosed on China Judgments Online, the Honggang District People's Court in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, recently announced a first-instance judgment. The court sentenced Zhang to ten years in prison and Zhao to four years and ten months in prison for the crime of theft. In order to seek illegal profits, Zhang and Zhao illegally tapped a high-voltage line belonging to an oil field to "steal electricity," setting up 36 Bitcoin mining machines in an abandoned pig pen to mine.

After trial, it was determined that on September 8, 2024, Zhang illegally tapped a high-voltage line belonging to an oil extraction plant of a certain limited liability company in Daqing. He used the stolen electricity to power Bitcoin mining machines located in an abandoned pig pen within a slaughterhouse building he had rented. Zhang had purchased 24 mining machines. Later, Zhang contacted Zhao to bring him in as a partner to jointly operate the Bitcoin mining machines for mining.

On December 12, 2024, after seeing Zhang profit from mining, Zhao, knowing full well that Zhang was illegally tapping oil field electricity, participated in the electricity theft to power Bitcoin mining machines. Zhao funded the purchase of 12 mining machines. The two operated a total of 36 Bitcoin mining machines. Zhang was responsible for contacting the purchase of mining machines, illegally connecting the power supply, providing the site for the machines, handling external repairs, and selling the Bitcoin. Zhao assisted Zhang by being responsible for the daily inspection of the 36 machines' operation and providing on-site maintenance for turning the machines on and off.

On August 1, 2025, Zhang and Zhao were apprehended by public security authorities. Calculations showed that Zhang stole 565,375.2 kilowatt-hours of oil field electricity, valued at 438,580.52 Chinese yuan. Zhao, starting from December 12, 2024, stole 468,060 kilowatt-hours of oil field electricity, valued at 363,750.78 Chinese yuan.

The court held that defendants Zhang and Zhao, with the purpose of illegal possession, stole public and private property, and the amount involved was particularly large. Their actions constituted the crime of theft. This case was a joint crime, with Zhang playing the principal role as the principal offender, and Zhao playing a secondary, auxiliary role as an accessory. Considering that Zhang and Zhao confessed to the facts and admitted guilt and accepted punishment, and that Zhao was an accessory, their sentences could be reduced or mitigated according to the law. (China News Weekly)