Overview
- Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill pleaded guilty in July to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, with sentencing set for November 6 and 7 in the Southern District of New York.
- Prosecutors say at least $237 million in criminal proceeds flowed through Samourai between 2015 and its shutdown in April 2024.
- The filing alleges the founders courted illicit users, citing a 2018 message calling mixing “money laundering for bitcoin” and posts promoting the service on dark web forums.
- The U.S. Probation Office recommended 42 months for each defendant, while the defense seeks time served and emphasizes the software’s non-custodial, privacy purpose.
- Prosecutors say the pair collected about $6.3 million in fees and that funds traced through the service link to darknet markets, exchange hacks, child sexual abuse material sites, murder-for-hire plots, and sanctioned actors, drawing comparisons to the Tornado Cash case.