Today in the southern district of New York (SDNY), Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm was found guilty of the second count of his indictment, conspiracy to run an illegal money transmitting business.
The jury did not come to a unanimous judgment of the other two counts – conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.
The jury arrived at this guilty verdict after three and a half days of consideration and after a trial that began in the middle of last month.
As a result of the guilty sentence on the money transmission tax, Storm is now facing up to five years in prison.
Judge Failla rejects movement to custody
In the wake of the sentence that was handed down, the prosecution made a proposal to be by storm in custody and claimed he was a risk of flight.
The Defense Mrs. Klein pushed back on the government’s claim and stated that the storm had little reason to flee the United States, especially considering that his Washington State home is tied in a $ 2 million bail; That his daughter, whom he has partial custody, and girlfriend is based in the US and his parents are Green Card holders; And that much of the crypto community that is supported storm is based in the United States and that hopefully they continue to support Storm when he appeals to the verdict.
The prosecution claimed that now that the storm has been convicted of a crime, he has more incentive to flee, but the judge was not convinced.
She claimed that “the stability of the verdict is still in play” (probably referring to the notion that Storm will appeal the verdict) before he adds that his “incentives have changed tremendously” and then subsequently denies the prosecutor’s proposal to last and agree to him.
USA lawyer for SDNY -BLOCKSLATE IN
Shortly after the verdict was handed down, the US lawyer for SDNY (and former US securities and exchange commission chairman) Jay Clayton issued a statement of the verdict.
“Roman Storm and Tornado Cash provided a service for North Korean hackers and other criminals to move and hide more than $ 1 billion dirty money,” Clayton said.
“The speed, efficiency and functionality of stableecoin and other digital assets make a great promise, but this promise may not be an excuse for crime. Criminals who use new technology to commit ancient crimes, including hiding dirty money, undermines public confidence and unreasonably throws a shadow on the many innovers who operate legally,” he added.
“This office and our partner agencies are obliged to keep responsible those who are taking advantage of new technologies to commit crime.”
Clayton did not recognize the memo issued by the US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, in which Blanche declared that the US Ministry of Justice would “stop participating in regulation of prosecution” in the crypto area and that it will no longer target virtual currency fellowing services for their end users.
He also did not mention that the vast majority of funds moving through Tornado cash users were not proven to be obtained illegally.