Today, in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), tornado cash co-founder Roman Storm was found guilty of counting the second in his charge, a conspiracy to run an unlicensed remittance business.
The ry umpire did not reach a unanimous verdict on the other two counts – conspiracy to commit a conspiracy to violate money laundering and sanctions.
The ju judges arrived at the conviction after three and a half days of deliberation and after a trial that began mid-month.
As a result of a conviction for a money transfer claim, Storm is currently facing up to five years in prison.
Judge Phila refuses motion to remand the storm
The issued ruling prompted prosecutors to detain Arashi and detain him, claiming he was a flight risk.
Defence’s Klein pushed back government claims, saying the storm has little reason to flee the US, especially given his home in Washington is tied up on $2 million bail. He must have partial custody, his girlfriend is based in the US, and his parents are green card holders. And many of the crypto community that supports Storm are based in the US and hope that when he sues the verdict, they will continue to support Storm.
Prosecutors argued that he had an incentive to escape now that Arashi was convicted of the crime, but the judge was not sure.
She argued that “the stability of the verdict is still playing around” (probably referring to the concept that Arashi appeals to the verdict).
US lawyers at SDNY Chime
Shortly after the verdict was issued, US lawyer Jake Layton for SDNY (and former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission) issued a statement regarding the verdict.
“Roman Storm and Tornado Cash provided services to help North Korean hackers and other criminals move and hide more than $1 billion in dirty money,” Clayton said.
“The speed, efficiency and functionality of stubcoins and other digital assets bring great promises, but those promises are no excuses for crime. Criminals who use new technologies, such as hiding dirty money and committing old crimes, including damaging public trust, and casting shadows on many legally run innovators.
“This office and our partner institutions are committed to retaining accountable people who use new technologies to commit crime.”
Clayton refused to acknowledge a memo issued by U.S. Associate Attorney General Todd Blanche, who said the U.S. Department of Justice would “stop participating in regulations by prosecutors” in the crypto space.
He also did not mention that most of the funds moved through Tornado cash users have not been proven illegally acquired.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/tornado-cash-trial-concludes-roman-storm-found-guilty-of-one-of-three-counts
