Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are pushing for the maximum sentence of 60 months for co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill of Samourai Wallet.
The pair pleaded guilty on July 30, 2025, to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
According to the Justice Department, Samourai Wallet acted as a cryptocurrency mixing service that laundered criminal proceeds from dark web markets, hacking schemes, fraud campaigns, and other illicit activities.
Prosecutors further assert that between 2015 and 2024, the platform handled billions in transactions and processed more than $200 million in criminal proceeds through its mixing services.
The sentencing memo highlights how Rodriguez and Hill not only operated the mixer but also actively encouraged its criminal use, marketing it on darknet forums and providing tools designed for anonymity and evasion.
The original charges included conspiracy to commit money laundering, carrying up to 20 years, but those were dropped as part of the plea agreement, leaving only the money-transmitting violation, which carries a maximum of five years.
In addition to prison time, the duo has agreed to forfeit roughly $237.8 million as part of the plea. The sentencing remains scheduled for November 2025, with Rodriguez set for November 6 and Hill the following day.
This case marks one of the most significant U.S. government crackdowns on crypto privacy tools to date. Analysts say it could set a precedent for how the law treats cryptocurrency mixers and the boundary between legitimate privacy services and illicit financial facilitation.