Defense Lawyers for Samourai Wallet Co-Founders Request Court to Dismiss Charges, Citing FinCEN Guidelines and New Department of Justice Policy.
The legal case surrounding Samourai Wallet is entering a new phase as the defense lawyers for co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill have filed a request for the court to dismiss criminal charges. The filing submitted on 5/5 revealed important information that could completely change the course of the case.
Conflict Between FinCEN's Assessment and Prosecutor's Charges
According to the recent filing, defense lawyers disclosed that the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) sent an internal notice to prosecutors in August 2023, in which FinCEN assessed that Samourai Wallet may not fall under the category of money transfer service providers under current regulations.
Notably, despite this assessment from the specialized agency, the Southern District of New York Prosecutor's Office still proceeded to prosecute Rodriguez and Hill in April 2024 on charges of money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transfer service. The prosecutor's charges claim that their privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet supported illegal transactions worth $2 billion over 9 years.
The defense argues that the prosecution violated disclosure obligations under the Brady precedent by delaying for over a year the sharing of a crucial FinCEN assessment. Only on 4/1/2025, after a specific request from the defense, was the information provided. Internal emails revealed that FinCEN officials emphasized that Samourai's non-custodial model – where users retain full control of their private keys – was "very likely" to mean the service would not be considered a money services business (MSB).
The situation became more complex after the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memorandum on 4/7/2025, signed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, instructing prosecutors to avoid imposing current regulatory frameworks on crypto projects while official regulations are still being developed. Specifically, this policy prohibits prosecuting transaction mixing services like Samourai based on licensing violations or user behavior – which is central to the current indictment.
The defense asserts that the delayed provision of FinCEN information seriously affected their clients' interests, including bail decisions that placed Rodriguez under house arrest and restricted both defendants' access to legal funds.
Rodriguez and Hill have long maintained that they complied with FinCEN guidelines from 2014 and 2019 – which exempted non-custodial crypto tools from MSB licensing requirements. Rodriguez's public statements during 2021-2022 show he frequently cited these guidelines to justify Samourai's operations.
A hearing is being scheduled to clarify the timeline of evidence disclosure under Brady rules and potential remedies. If the case is dismissed, this could become an important precedent, limiting the ability to prosecute crypto developers based on current financial laws in a context where the legal framework for the sector is still being refined.
