The co-founders of the Samorai-Tevebog are expected to claim to blame for charges that through their Bitcoin blend service, they helped hackers and other cyber criminal laundering over $ 100 million in dirty money, according to Tuesday, according to Tuesday.
Initially, both Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill pleaded not guilty after being arrested and charged with a counting each of the conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to run an unlicensed money that transmits business last April – for which they face a maximum of 25 years in prison. Their trial was scheduled to begin in Manhattan’s US District Court of Southern District in New York (SDNY) in early November.
However, Tuesday’s court decisions from district judge Denise L. Cote, the judge, who oversees the case, indicates that both men will change their pleas to guilty during back-to-back personal hearings on Wednesday.
The decision comes in the midst of the ongoing lawsuit against Roman Storm, the developer of Tornado Cash-An Other Privacy Focused Crypto-Mixing Tool-which is also held in Manhattan’s southern district, in front of district judge Katherine Polk Failla. Storm (as well as one of his colleagues, Roman Semenov, who remains in the great storm, who has maintained his innocence and did not claim the charges, face 45 years in prison if convicted in all three counts. Storm’s defense rested its case on Tuesday and closed arguments are expected to pack Wednesday, which lets the jury begin his considerations.
It is unclear why Rodriguez and Hill have decided to now change their pleas to guilty. A lawyer for Rodriguez did not respond to Coindesk’s request for comment after pressing time.
The couple has made several bids to get the matter against them thrown out. Following the US Deputy Government Attorney Todd Blanche sent a memo to the Department of Justice (DOJ) who informed them that DOJ would no longer pursue criminal cases against cryptic businesses involving legislative violations or “the actions of their end user,” Attorneys of Samorai Wallet Memo asked the government to submit their case – Like at least two weeks before, decided to move forward despite Blanche Memo.
Attorneys to the defense also tried to get the case thrown out in the wake of revelations, which prosecutors allegedly withheld proof of the defense that lawyers for the financial crime use network (Fincen) did not believe that Samorai -Tektog qualified as a money transfers and would therefore not be required to register as such. Prosecutors denied that their late disclosure violated the defendants’ rights on the proper process and told the court that “legal statements” are not brady material.
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