The Tampa man convicted in the “Undead Apes” blockchain case died by suicide, family says

One of the two men convicted in what federal prosecutors described as a “rug-pull” fraud scheme died two weeks ago by suicide, according to his family.

Berman Jerry Nolen died on December 21 at his home in Alabama. The cause of death was not clear, but his family told the Tampa Bay Times that he committed suicide. He was 21 years old.

Nowlin was awaiting sentencing in January after a Tampa jury convicted him on federal fraud and money laundering charges. Prosecutors alleged that he worked with Devin Rhoden, a senior Airman at MacDill Air Force Base who was one of Nolen’s childhood friends, in a cryptocurrency scheme that cost investors $135,000.

Although the government labeled him an active participant in a criminal scheme, his family and defense attorneys insisted he was an unwitting accomplice who helped with the coding and technical aspects of creating the blockchain tokens at the heart of the case. They accused Roden of being largely responsible for the fraud.

Nolen believed the court system would exonerate him, his family said. After his conviction, he became very depressed and isolated, and was reluctant to leave home.

“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.”

Nolen was diagnosed with autism, his family said.

His mother, Diana Ambrose, said the psychiatrist who examined him found that he was well above average in his intelligence. She said he did well in school, but had the emotional maturity of a 14-year-old. He was never in trouble.

“He’s like a little kid in a lot of ways,” Ambrose said. “Anyone who actually talked to him could tell he was special. He wasn’t like the rest of us.”

Autism made Nowlin’s social interactions difficult. Most of his friends were people he only knew online. He taught himself how to write computer code. He spent a lot of his time playing online games and chatting on platforms like Discord.

That’s how he met Roden.

In the spring of 2022, Naolin and Roden collaborated to create a series of non-fungible token sets, known as “Undead Apes” and “Undead Lady Apes.” The tokens, which were traded on the Solana blockchain, depicted primates with colorful skeletons.

Rhoden promoted the groups on the messaging platform Discord and the social networking site X, formerly known as Twitter. The buzz around them brought the resale value to $360 and made Rhoden and Nolan a small fortune.

Investor enthusiasm spiked in April 2022 amid news of an upcoming third set known as “Undead Tombstone”. As anticipation grew for the new collection, the project was suddenly abandoned. Prices fell. Investors were left with worthless assets while prosecutors allege Rhoden and Nolen pocketed $135,000.

Nowlin’s attorney, J. Jervis Wise, argued during the trial that Nowlin had no reason to engage in any type of fraud scheme. The first two blockchain creations were legitimate and successful and gave people the product they wanted.

Wise described his client as a behind-the-scenes player in the creation of the tokens, while Roden was responsible for marketing the tokens to potential investors. Wise said he knew nothing about plans to participate in the rug-pulling scheme.

“Nolen had no knowledge of what Rhoden was doing,” Wise told the Times. “Nowlin did not join in any scheme with Rhoden to try to defraud anyone.”

But federal prosecutors confirmed that Nowlin was indeed part of the scheme. They presented evidence that Nowlin used a money laundering technique known as “chain hopping” to transfer fraud proceeds from Solana to the Ethereum blockchain. He then converted the cryptocurrency into US dollars, which he and Rhoden split.

Court documents relayed online conversations in which the couple discussed the robbery.

One of Roden’s fellow pilots led investigators to him. He later pleaded guilty to federal charges and testified at Nolen’s trial. Prosecutors credited his cooperation with securing Nolin’s conviction. He was sentenced in November to five years of supervised release.

Multiple efforts to reach Rhoden for comment were unsuccessful.

His mother said Nolen used a flip phone after his arrest, after he was denied access to the internet. She said he followed his pretrial restrictions “to a T.” She said technological limitations prevented him from showing some evidence, including records that he tried to recover investors’ money.

“He tried to do everything right,” she said.

The judge could have sentenced Nolen to probation or another sentence less than prison time, Wise said. He could also have filed an appeal for a new trial.

Nolen’s mother said it wasn’t the prospect of prison that bothered him as much as the stigma of a criminal conviction. He thought he would never be able to work with computers, which dashed his goals of working in technology.

Ambrose said she wants people to know there was more to her son than what was presented in court.

She remembers the boy who was the first to surprise her with Mother’s Day flowers and cook her breakfast, who helped her when her mother was undergoing cancer treatment and who could have taken anyone with him when he vacationed in Jamaica, but he chose his mother.

Away from his digital world, he loved fishing and traveling and dreamed of a nomadic life. He had plans to set up a remote workstation in a truck so he could earn money and travel at the same time.

“He was a beautiful soul,” his mother said.

Need help?

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, contact the 24-hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; Call the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK 741741; Or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay can be reached by calling 211 or by visiting crisiscenter.com.

Correction: Berman Jerry Nowlin died on December 21. A previous version of this story included an incorrect date.