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A woman named Staci Blackmon has been sentenced to 70 years after she bought TikTok coins by stealing around $1.2 million from the bank account of a construction company, SCH Homes. Staci Blackmon is a resident of North Texas and further details related to her personal life are currently awaited.
For the unversed, TikTok coins can help the users support the creators by sending gifts and boosting the posts so that they can reach more people.
Also known as Staci Lynne Blackmon, she began stealing the money in 2020. An investigation was later launched by the Southlake Police Department. Staci Blackmon was eventually arrested in October 2022 and pleaded guilty to theft charges on August 13, 2024, emerging from two cases.
The charges were additionally confirmed by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office and they shared a post through X (formerly Twitter). They wrote:
"Thank you to the Southlake Police Department for your work on this case and for keeping our community safe."
A notice was additionally included in the post which revealed more details on how she used the stolen money and it reads:
"The defendant used most of the stolen money to purchase and send "Tik Tok" coins, which are in-app currencies bought with real money. She also purchased a Dallas Mavericks Suite, home furniture and lavish trips with the funds."
TikTok coins can help boost posts through different methods
As mentioned, TikTok coins can offer financial help to the creators through gifts, which could include anything such as a thumbs-up sign alongside a pure royalty crown. It contributes to bringing more popularity to the videos.
A creator can exchange the gifts for money after collecting a lot of them and a notification appears on the screen while sending the gifts. Users can simply select the gift box icon, choose the gift, and tap on send. The process is the same in the comments section.
Furthermore, the coins can be used to purchase a TikTok promotion via TikTok Promote and it helps to boost a video for a few days. This process is also simple where users have to open a video, select the three dots followed by the fire icon and goal of promotion. Users can then tap on select.
The price of the coins might be different based on the region and they are normally charged at $0.01. However, people can also bring bundles of coins that start from 70 coins and the highest with $17,500 coins. The bundle prices start at $0.84 and go up to $210.
A certain number of coins needs to be exchanged for gifts such as 100 coins for Confetti or 1,000 coins for Disco Ball. The prices could fluctuate on different occasions and users can check the gifting menu to stay updated with the same.
Furthermore, users have to be a part of the Creator Next Program to receive TikTok gifts and the account must be around 30 days old with 1,000 followers. Users have to be almost 18 years old to join the Creator Next Program.
Meanwhile, Staci Blackmon used the stolen money to buy the in-app currency and also spent some of the funds to buy a Dallas Mavericks Suite, along with furniture and fancy trips. Blackmon pleaded guilty to the two cases of theft filed against her and has been sentenced to prison for 35 years in prison for each case.
