Prosecutors May Dismiss Charges Against Samourai Wallet Amid Updated DOJ Crypto Enforcement Guidelines: Court Document

New York prosecutors are seemingly considering whether to drop their case against Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, according to a Monday court filing. In a joint letter to District Judge Richard Berman of the Southern District of New York (SDNY), both prosecutors and the lawyers for Rodriguez and Hill requested a 16-day continuance, or extension, “while the Government determines its position” in response to the defense’s request for dismissal under U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent memo to the Department of Justice (DOJ) staff.

In his April 7 memo, Blanche announced the disbandment of the DOJ’s crypto unit, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), and instructed staff to cease bringing cases against crypto exchanges, mixing services, or offline wallets “for the acts of their end users or unwitting violations of regulations.” Blanche ordered any ongoing investigations inconsistent with this new policy to be closed and stated that his office would collaborate with the DOJ’s criminal division to “review ongoing cases for consistency with this policy.”

Three days after Blanche’s memo, lawyers for Hill and Rodriguez sent a letter to SDNY prosecutors “requesting the dismissal of the superseding indictment under the Blanche Memo,” according to Monday’s filing. On April 24, the parties met to discuss this request.

Last April, Rodriguez and Hill were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and five years, respectively. Prosecutors stated that Samourai Wallet facilitated approximately $2 billion in “unlawful transactions” between 2015 and 2024, with the pair collecting a combined $4.5 million in fees.