Samourai Wallet Prosecutors Are Considering Dropping Charges Under New DOJ Crypto Enforcement Priorities: Filing

New York prosecutors are seemingly contemplating whether or not or to not drop their case in opposition to Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, in accordance with a Monday courtroom submitting.

In a joint letter to District Judge Richard Berman of the Southern District of New York (SDNY), each prosecutors and legal professionals for Rodriguez and Hill requested that the case be granted a 16-day continuance, or extension, “while the Government determines its position” in response to the protection’s request that the case be dismissed below the auspices of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s latest memo to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) employees.

In his April 7 memo, Blanche introduced that the DOJ’s crypto unit, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) can be disbanded, and instructed employees to now not convey instances in opposition to crypto exchanges, mixing providers, or offline wallets “for the acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations.”

Blanche ordered any ongoing investigations inconsistent with this new coverage to be closed, and stated that his workplace would work with the DOJ’s legal division to “review ongoing cases for consistency with this policy.”

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Three days after Blanche’s memo, legal professionals for Hill and Rodriguez despatched a letter to SDNY prosecutors “requesting the dismissal of the superseding indictment under the Blanche Memo,” according to Monday’s filing On April 24, the parties met to discuss the request.

Last April, Rodriguez and Hill were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and five years, respectively. Prosecutors said Samourai Wallet had facilitated around $2 billion in “unlawful transactions” between 2015 and 2024, with the pair accumulating a mixed $4.5 million in charges.