CoinDesk reports:
A recent court filing concerning Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rordiguez and William Lonergan Hill, also known as TDev, reveals that the U.S. government has agreed to bail Hill. According to the submitted documents, Hill, extradited from Portugal, is scheduled for his initial appearance in the Southern District of New York on July 9th or 10th, 2024.
The filing states that both parties have agreed to Hill’s bail, with his defense team requesting release to his residence in Lisbon, Portugal, pending trial. However, the U.S. government opposes this, suggesting releasing Hill to his sister’s basement in Brooklyn.
As part of the bail package, Hill’s family has provided a $2 million bond, including $200,000 in cash and a family residence in New York. The defense team has proposed expanding the bail package to $3 million, incorporating additional family real estate in Europe.
The case involving Hill and co-defendant Keonne Rordiguez has sparked controversy, prompting Senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Ron Wyden of Oregon to pen an open letter in May criticizing the prosecution for “unprecedented and unlawful changes in legal interpretation.”
Hill’s defense argues that FinCEN guidance has long established that peer-to-peer applications like Samourai Wallet do not qualify as money transmission services. They highlight Hill’s nine-year operation of the wallet without issues as evidence of his belief in its legality.
Interestingly, the defense also notes that Google had hosted Samourai Wallet on its app store for nine years before removing it post-Hill’s arrest. This raises the question of whether Google could be seen as an unindicted co-conspirator if the U.S. government’s argument prevails.
Hill’s defense team describes the U.S. government’s prosecution as “aggressive and far-reaching,” vowing to challenge the charges during trial. The case has garnered significant interest within the cryptocurrency community, with many following developments under the #WhereIsTDevD tag.
