The two founders of Samourai Wallet, a Bitcoin mixing service, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to operating an unlicensed money-transmission business that laundered more than $100 million in proceeds from dark-web marketplaces and online fraud schemes.
Under their plea agreements, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill each face up to five years in prison and jointly accepted a $237 million money-judgment forfeiture. The deal also requires an immediate payment of $6.4 million ahead of sentencing, which Judge Denise Cote set for Nov. 6 for Rodriguez and Nov. 7 for Hill. Prosecutors said both men waived their right to appeal any sentence of 60 months or less.
The case is one of several high-profile U.S. crackdowns on cryptocurrency mixers, coming as a separate jury deliberates the fate of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm in the same courthouse. Hill was arrested in Portugal and extradited to the United States earlier this year, underscoring the expanding international reach of U.S. enforcement actions targeting crypto-enabled money laundering.
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