Former Pump.fun Employee Pleads Guilty, Awaits Sentencing for $2 Million Solana Theft

Jarett Dunn, a former Pump.enjoyable senior developer, has signed a doc affirming his guilt on costs associated to draining an estimated $2 million value of Solana (SOL) from the distinguished token launchpad. The formal request for forgiveness was made out of behind bars in London, after he was imprisoned for breaking bail situations.

The newest twist within the saga comes as Pump.enjoyable has reasserted its dominance over rival token launchpads that not too long ago stole market share. On Wednesday, it accounted for 77% of Solana tokens created through launchpads, per Dune, and generated greater than $2.28 million in income—a five-month excessive.

Nearly precisely a 12 months in the past, the Canadian nationwide had pleaded responsible to fraud by abuse of place, in addition to switch of prison property. However throughout an October listening to, scheduled to be his sentencing, Dunn had a change of coronary heart and acknowledged his intention to withdraw his responsible plea. His authorized staff stop the case, telling Dunn that pleading harmless was a foul concept.

Dunn then awaited a listening to to formally vacate his responsible plea for nearly eight months, which was repeatedly adjourned because of a scarcity of court docket capability, whereas he was residing out of London motels on bail.

In early June, Dunn instructed Decrypt that he had impulsively moved to Liverpool as a result of it was quieter than the capital. However this transfer broke his bail situations, and he was finally put into HMP Liverpool, earlier than being moved to HMP Pentonville, London.

Whereas locked up, Dunn determined to stay along with his preliminary responsible plea—and signed a doc confirming so inside the previous couple of weeks, as confirmed to Decrypt by his new authorized staff. He now awaits sentencing, which, in response to a put up on X made by a pal managing his account, may happen inside the subsequent two weeks. His authorized staff couldn’t verify a date.

Throughout Dunn’s first listening to in August 2024, during which he pleaded responsible, the choose defined that the case would seemingly be seen as a class 1A offense, as a result of severity of the case. If categorized as such, the Canadian citizen’s sentence would begin at seven years. One issue within the case’s categorization is the injury triggered to the sufferer, Pump.enjoyable.

Whereas Dunn drained an estimated $2 million from the platform, the court docket heard final 12 months that the consequential losses doubtlessly ran as excessive as £10 million, or $12.8 million. How this determine was decided was not mentioned on the time.

Decrypt has since found that this determine accounts for capital spent to protect the fame of Pump.enjoyable, in addition to misplaced income as a result of platform halting buying and selling for about 9 hours and quickly reducing buying and selling charges as a goodwill gesture to impacted customers—totaling roughly $10 million.



On prime of this, Dunn despatched all the stolen funds to random pockets addresses, which implies he was unable to instantly return what was taken, nor may Pump.enjoyable recuperate it. In doing this, he amassed a cult-like following that paraded him because the Robin Hood of crypto.

The prosecution may pursue Dunn to pay again the funds misplaced because of the crime through a Proceeds of Crime Act or POCA utility, UK solicitor at legislation agency Gunnercooke, Neil Williams, instructed Decrypt.

Nonetheless, some mitigating circumstances could cut back Dunn’s sentencing.

One issue is his analysis of schizoaffective bipolar dysfunction, panic dysfunction, and ADHD. On the time of the crime, the developer hadn’t been taking any remedy for 3 months—and when arrested, it was decided that he was unfit to face a police interview. Dunn was then hospitalized for 2 weeks underneath Part 136 of the Psychological Well being Act, to enhance his psychological well being.

Dunn additionally has a historical past of substance abuse, for which he was usually attending restoration conferences to battle.

In final 12 months’s listening to, the place Dunn pleaded responsible, the choose mentioned that enhancing his psychological well being could act as a mitigating circumstance. Following the listening to, when requested by Decrypt if he thought the crime was a results of a psychological episode, Dunn replied, “My entire life has been a psychological episode, so it’s onerous to inform.”

Since Dunn’s explosive departure from the corporate in Might 2024, Pump.enjoyable has erupted into one of many greatest initiatives in crypto.

On the time of the assault, the token launchpad was widespread however nonetheless in its infancy, with a lifetime income of $43.9 million. Its income has since skyrocketed to $791 million, in response to Dune knowledge, because it turned a cultural hub for tokenizing memes and viral developments.

Pump.enjoyable has spawned the likes of Fartcoin, Moo Deng, and Chill Man, in addition to numerous controversial tokens. Extra not too long ago, it has began to foster a group of streamers, because the platform says it’s making an attempt to topple trade giants like TikTok and Twitch.

It has additionally launched its personal token, which has surged 27% over the previous two weeks to a $1.27 billion market capitalization—though it stays down 47% from its all-time excessive. Nonetheless, in response to CoinGecko, PUMP is the 99th largest cryptocurrency on the planet.

In the meantime, Dunn sits in his cell, awaiting a date to be sentenced.