In the present day, within the Southern District of New York, was the primary listening to within the US Division of Justice’s (DoJ) case in opposition to Samourai Pockets builders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill.
I attended the primary listening to for the #Samourai Pockets case earlier right this moment on behalf of @BitcoinMagazine and briefly spoke with one of many defendants, Keonne Rodriguez, after the listening to.Right here's a recap of what I realized: pic.twitter.com/QZN4Ape0CZ
— Frank Corva (@frankcorva) Might 28, 2024
The 2 builders had been arrested in late April and charged with conspiracy to commit cash laundering and conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise.
Solely Rodriguez and his lawyer, Michael Krouse, had been current within the courtroom right this moment, although, as Hill continues to be in Portugal and has but to reply to an extradition request from the US authorities.
The prosecution said that it’s almost set to interact in discovery (sharing the proof that it plans to make use of for the trial with the defendants) and that it’s ready for the trial whether or not each Hill and Rodriguez are current for it or not.
“Substantial Discovery”
The prosecution additionally said that it has but to extract the entire knowledge from the digital units it has confiscated from Rodriguez, however that it’s going to present “substantial discovery” based mostly on the knowledge it has obtained to date.
And it shared that it’s nonetheless ready on Rodriguez to show over a 2 terabyte exhausting drive that the defendant nonetheless has in his possession.
No particulars had been supplied as to what knowledge is perhaps on the exhausting drive.
A Letter From Two Senators
Rodriguez’s lawyer said that he plans to file a movement to dismiss the indictment of his consumer and his consumer’s associate at Samourai, citing a letter that US Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) despatched to Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland during which the 2 politicians argued non-custodial crypto software program cannot be a cash transmitting service.
“We write to specific our grave considerations concerning the U.S. Division of Justice’s (DOJ) latest coverage arguments that dramatically develop the scope of the Federal prohibition on working an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise,” begins the letter.
“The DOJ’s unprecedented interpretation of this statute within the context of non-custodial crypto asset software program providers contradicts the clear intent of Congress and the authoritative steering of the Division of the Treasury’s Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN). This interpretation threatens to criminalize People providing non-custodial crypto asset software program providers,” Senators Lummis and Wyden added.
The letter additionally acknowledges that “non-custodial crypto service suppliers can’t be categorized as cash transmitter companies as a result of customers of such providers retain sole possession and management of their crypto property.”
Shifting Ahead
The decide introduced that Rodriguez would stay below home arrest and that the subsequent listening to for the case would happen on September 4, 2024 at 11:30 AM EST.
These excited about donating to the authorized protection fund for the Samourai builders can achieve this through this fundraiser arrange by the Bitcoin Coverage Institute (BPI).
