Samourai Wallet co-founders to now plead guilty to US charges
Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill have said that they now wish to plead guilty to charges stemming from their involvement in the crypto mixing protocol.
Separate filings on behalf of Rodriguez and Hill were made in a New York federal court on Tuesday, which said the duo would change their pleas before the court on Wednesday morning.
The pair pleaded not guilty to charges in April 2024 for running what prosecutors alleged to be an unlicensed money-transmitting business that processed over $2 billion worth of unlawful transactions, including some tied to illicit online marketplaces like Silk Road.
Document on behalf of Keonne Rodriguez reflecting his change in plea. Source: CourtListener
Samourai co-founders face 25-year prison sentence
Rodriguez, Samourai’s CEO, and Hill, its chief technology officer, were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
The pair were also charged with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, which carries a sentence of five years, meaning they could face a maximum of up to 25 years behind bars.
Judge Denise Cote scheduled hearings to discuss the change in pleas for Wednesday morning. The document didn’t provide additional details on how the plea change may impact their sentences.
A trial for the pair was set to start on Nov. 3.
Samourai co-founders tried to toss the case
The change in pleas came nearly four months after the pair tried to dismiss the case in early April, pointing to an April 7 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that said the Department of Justice wouldn’t prosecute those behind crypto mixers for “unwitting violations of regulations.”
A month later, Samourai’s lawyers alleged that federal prosecutors suppressed advice that the company didn’t need a money transmitting license six months before the founders were eventually charged.
Neither attempt to sway the prosecutor’s case was effective.
Samourai worked similarly to other crypto mixer protocols, taking funds from multiple users and blending them to hide their origins.
Guilty pleas come amid Roman Storm’s trial
Another crypto mixer under the spotlight is Tornado Cash, with one of its creators, Roman Storm, currently being tried before a jury.
Storm’s backers say an unfavorable outcome in the case could establish a precedent for criminalizing open-source privacy tools, posing a serious risk to decentralized finance innovation while significantly restricting privacy rights.
Storm was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations in 2023. If convicted on all counts, Storm could face up to 45 years behind bars.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
You may also like
Over $10 billion in market value evaporated in four trading days as CoreWeave (CRWV.US) debt risks trigger sell-off, but Deutsche Bank sees it as a buying opportunity
Deutsche Bank believes that the recent sell-off of CoreWeave lacks sufficient company fundamentals to justify it, and the sharp price correction has instead created a buying opportunity for investors.
Overnight US Stock Market | Inflation Pressure Continues to Rise, All Three Major Indexes Up, Dell (DELL.US) Down 6.8%
At the close of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 557.51 points, or 1.08%, to 52,178.99 points; the S&P 500 Index gained 25.18 points, or 0.33%, to 7,744.12 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 20.16 points, or 0.08%, to 26,713.03 points.
Interactive Brokers (IBKR.US) Q3 revenue increased by 16% year-on-year, announces over 70% increase in quarterly dividend
Driven by growth in net interest income and commission income, Interactive Brokers' Q3 net revenue increased by 16% year-on-year, with adjusted earnings per share rising by approximately 18% year-on-year.
CoreWeave default probability exceeds 60%! Jensen Huang "puts out the fire": Financing costs are declining, no need for NVIDIA to backstop
After Jensen Huang's speech, CoreWeave's stock price, which had fallen by as much as 9.5% in early trading, turned positive. The company's five-year CDS rose above 1,190 basis points during Thursday’s session, a historical high reflecting the cost of debt default protection, while yields on some of its corporate bonds have climbed above 15% to 16%. The five-year CDS spreads for Oracle, Amazon, Google’s parent company, and Meta are all at historically high levels. Deutsche Bank analysts believe that as the AI capital expenditure cycle is increasingly supported by debt rather than free cash flow, investors must place greater emphasis on signals from the credit market. Overall, while AI-related financing costs are not yet excessively high, worrying signs have begun to emerge.
Crypto prices
More
