Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, co-founders of Samourai Wallet, have stated that they now intend to plead guilty to charges related to their involvement in a cryptocurrency mixing protocol.
A separate filing representing Rodriguez and Hill was submitted on Tuesday in federal court in New York, indicating that the two will change their pleas in court on Wednesday morning.
The duo had pleaded not guilty in April 2024 to charges of operating an unlicensed money transmission business, handling over $2 billion in illegal transactions, including those related to illicit online markets like Silk Road.
Rodriguez, the CEO of Samourai, and Hill, the CTO, are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
They are also charged with operating an unlicensed money transmission business, which could result in an additional 5 years in prison, meaning they could face a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Judge Denise Cote has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday morning to discuss the plea changes. The filing did not provide further details on how the plea changes might affect their sentences.
The trial for the two is set to begin on November 3.
This change in plea comes nearly four months after the two attempted to dismiss the case in early April. At that time, they cited a memorandum issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on April 7, stating that the Department of Justice would not prosecute individuals associated with cryptocurrency mixing services for "unintentional violations."
A month later, Samourai's lawyers claimed that federal prosecutors had suppressed compliance advice regarding the company's lack of need for a money transmission license for six months prior to the founders' indictment.
Both attempts failed to change the prosecution's stance.
Samourai operates similarly to other cryptocurrency mixing services, blending funds from multiple users to obscure their origins.
Another cryptocurrency mixing service under scrutiny is Tornado Cash, one of whose founders, Roman Storm, is currently facing a jury trial.
Supporters of Storm argue that an unfavorable outcome could set a precedent for open-source privacy tools being classified as criminal offenses. This would pose significant risks to decentralized finance (DeFi) innovation and greatly limit privacy rights.
In 2023, Storm was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating sanctions, facing a maximum sentence of 45 years if convicted on all counts.
Related: BitMine's $1 billion buyback plan now leans more towards stock rather than more Ethereum (ETH)
Original article: “Samourai Wallet Co-Founders to Now Plead Guilty to US Charges”
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