Samourai Wallet co-founders – William Hill and Keonne Rodriguez – have been sentenced to prison in the U.S. In a statement shared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, the crypto players have been charged for money laundering and now face four and five years in prison respectively.
According to the official statement, Hill and Rodriquez created a crypto mixer service “Whirlpool” to let users cover their transaction tracks. Additionally, the founders have been accused of operating a service called “Ricochet” to let users random intermediate transactions between sending and receiving addresses.
The prosecutors have said that the Samourai founders knew exactly what they were doing and willingly helped financial criminals move funds around via their platforms.
“The defendants also had a clear understanding that Samourai was, in fact, used for money laundering. Hill marketed Samourai as a transmittal service for criminal proceeds on Dread, a darknet forum dedicated to discussing illegal marketplace activities,” the Attorney’s office said.
While Samourai Wallet was launched in 2015, these other two platforms – Ricochet and Whirlpool were launched in 2017 and 2019.
“More than 80,000 Bitcoin—valued at over $2 billion at the time—passed through these services. Samourai collected fees for both services, estimated to have a total value of more than $6 million,” the Attorney’s office noted.
Initially arrested and indicted in April 2024, the pair had pleaded not guilty to allegations of operating unlicensed businesses that dabbled in money laundering. Both the co-founders have now been ordered to pay $250,000 in fines as well.
“The sentences the defendants received send a clear message that laundering known criminal proceeds—regardless of the technology used or whether the proceeds are in the form of fiat or cryptocurrency—will face serious consequences,” said Attorney for the United States Nicolas Roos.
The domain for Samourai Wallet has been seized owing to the investigations, its official website shows as a message from the authorities.