Overview
- U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote ordered 48 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for William Hill after varying below a 60‑month request due to his age and a recent autism diagnosis.
- Hill must self‑surrender by January 2, 2026, and the court will recommend credit for roughly 11 weeks he served in a Portuguese jail before extradition.
- Co‑founder Keonne Rodriguez earlier received a five‑year term after both men pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money‑transmitting business, with money‑laundering counts dismissed.
- DOJ filings say Samourai’s Whirlpool and Ricochet moved more than 80,000 BTC valued at over $2 billion and generated about $6 million in fees, with forfeiture orders tied to roughly $237 million.
- Prosecutors cited darknet marketing and messages describing mixing as “money laundering for Bitcoin,” and the 2024 operation seized servers and domains and led to the app’s removal from Google Play, prompting other wallets to block U.S. users or drop mixing features.