Samourai Wallet's Keonne Rodriguez sentenced to maximum five-year term over crypto mixing service
Quick Take Prosecutors said that Rodriguez and co-founder William Lonergan Hill designed Samourai Wallet to offer two features, including a crypto mixing service called “Whirlpool” to help people engage in criminal conduct. In July, both founders changed their pleas to guilty after initially contesting the charges.
Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez was sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum time frame prosecutors had called for after they say Rodriguez and his co-founder operated a crypto mixing service that helps launder millions of dollars in criminal proceeds.
Rodriguez was sentenced on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine, according to reporting from Inner City Press.
Prosecutors had said that Rodriguez, who served as chief executive officer, and co-founder William Lonergan Hill, who served as chief technology officer, designed Samourai to offer two features, including a crypto mixing service called "Whirlpool" to help people engage in criminal conduct.
The pair also encouraged users to launder criminal proceeds through the mixer on X, prosecutors previously alleged.
The pair pleaded guilty in July after initially denying the charges last year. During the hearing on Thursday, Rodriguez told the court that he was sorry and said he would not break the law again.
Rodriguez's lawyer drew a distinction between Rodriguez and former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, saying that he lives in a $250,000 home in Pennsylvania and is a "warm family man," according to reporting from Inner City Press.
Bankman-Fried shared a penthouse in the Bahamas with other FTX executives. He was found guilty in November 2023 on all seven criminal counts of defrauding lenders, customers and investors, and was later sentenced to 25 years in prison last year.
Crypto mixing has been at the forefront of cases involving crypto.
In August, Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm was found guilty on a money transmitting charge, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on money laundering and sanctions charges.
Since then, crypto advocacy groups have raised money to donate to legal funds for Storm and Tornado Cash co-founder Alexey Pertsev.
Hill's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 19.
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
Bitcoin News Today: Bitcoin Poised for Major Move: Will It Surge or Plunge at $108K?
- Bitcoin consolidates near $104.5K, below $108K resistance, as tightening Bollinger Bands signal potential breakout. - A $108K+ break could drive BTC to $110K-$112K with ETF inflows and reduced miner selling pressure supporting accumulation. - Failure to hold $104K support risks a pullback to $100.5K, with soft ETF demand or renewed miner sales as key triggers. - Solar stocks like Emeren and Canadian Solar draw equity market attention amid mixed earnings and debt concerns.
Tokenized Equities Climb to $10 Billion, Putting Regulators in a Legal Gray Area
- Kraken's xStocks platform, a joint venture with Backed, surpassed $10B in transaction volume four months post-launch, tokenizing equities like Tesla and Meta . - The platform enables 24/7 trading and fractional ownership across Ethereum , Solana , BNB Chain, and Tron , with $2B in onchain activity and 45,000 holders. - Legal ambiguity persists as tokenized stocks are treated as derivatives, not direct securities, with experts warning of liquidity risks and regulatory challenges. - Kraken's cautious focus
Bitcoin Updates: Dubai Court's $456 Million Asset Freeze Marks a Turning Point in International Crypto Regulation
- Dubai's Digital Economy Court froze $456M in TrueUSD reserves, alleging mismanagement by Aria Commodities, a firm controlled by Matthew Brittain. - Funds were transferred via Hong Kong-based First Digital Trust between 2021-2022, sparking legal disputes over whether reserves were converted to illiquid assets. - The ruling underscores global regulatory focus on stablecoin transparency, as Techteryx claims constructive trust while Aria faces scrutiny over opaque transactions. - Trump-linked entities like A
COAI's Sudden Price Decline: Managing Immediate Fluctuations and Sustained Strength
- COAI Index fell 54% by November 2025 due to C3.ai's $116.8M loss, lawsuits, and regulatory uncertainty from the CLARITY Act. - Short-term selloffs were amplified by sector-wide risk aversion, though Binance's smart money account profited $3.125M from COAI trades. - Long-term resilience stems from 50+ corporate partnerships advancing AI adoption and indirect benefits from rising AI R&D investments in biotech . - Investors must balance regulatory risks with COAI's ecosystem strength, as C3.ai's struggles c
Trending news
MoreCrypto prices
More
