Prosecutors are considering dropping charges against Samourai Wallet under a new Justice Department crypto enforcement matter

New York prosecutors are reassessing whether to drop charges against Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, two co-founders of privacy wallet Samourai Wallet. According to court documents filed Monday, the prosecution and defense jointly asked the judge to grant a 16-day extension so that the prosecution can decide on a follow-up based on a new policy memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. In the April 7 memo, Blanche announced the dissolution of the Justice Department's Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) and directed it to stop prosecuting crypto exchanges, coin mixing services, and offline wallets solely for end users' actions or for unintentional violations of regulations. The memo calls for a re-examination of all pending cases for compliance with the new policy.
Rodriguez and Hill, charged in April 2023 with conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating a money transfer business without a license, face up to 25 years in prison. Prosecutors allege that his wallet facilitated illegal transactions of $2 billion between 2015 and 2024, making $4.50 million in profits. Defense attorneys first invoked the Blanche memo on April 10 to drop the case, and the two sides held talks on April 24.