Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill did not plead guilty to the original money-laundering-conspiracy charge. On July 30, 2025, they pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate a money-transmitting business knowing it transmitted criminal proceeds, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Rodriguez was later sentenced to five years in prison and Hill to four.
What did the Samourai Wallet founders plead guilty to?
Rodriguez, Samourai’s CEO, and Hill, its CTO, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate a money-transmitting business knowing that it transmitted crime proceeds. They entered their pleas on July 30, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote; the DOJ announced them on August 6, 2025. DOJ’s plea announcement describes the count.
The distinction matters: the April 2024 indictment announcement described both a money-laundering conspiracy charge and a conspiracy charge involving an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The later plea was to the money-transmitting-business conspiracy count, not a guilty plea to the original money-laundering-conspiracy count. The 2024 announcement concerned allegations at that stage of the case; the later plea and sentencing announcements reported subsequent outcomes. DOJ’s 2024 charging announcement stated that defendants were presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Why were they sentenced?
DOJ says Rodriguez and Hill began developing Samourai around 2015. It describes Whirlpool as a Bitcoin mixing service that coordinated batches of exchanges among users and Ricochet as a feature that added intermediate transactions, or “hops.” In the government’s account, these features obscured the origins of Bitcoin transactions, and the founders knew the service transmitted criminal proceeds.
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In its plea announcement, DOJ said more than 80,000 Bitcoin passed through Whirlpool and Ricochet. It valued that volume at over $2 billion using contemporaneous exchange rates and estimated fees above $6 million. These are different measures: the Bitcoin volume is not itself a measure of criminal proceeds, and the exchange-rate valuation is not the amount of fees.
At sentencing, DOJ said Samourai facilitated over $237 million in illegal transactions. Its announcement reported a forfeiture order of $237,832,360.55 and said $6,367,139.69 representing fees earned had been paid in forfeiture. Those sentencing figures concern proceeds and forfeiture, not the total Bitcoin processed or its estimated dollar value. DOJ’s figures are government-reported amounts, not independently recalculated estimates. DOJ’s sentencing announcement provides the reported amounts.
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How long were the founders sentenced to prison?
| Founder | Prison sentence | Supervised release | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keonne Rodriguez | Five years; sentenced November 6, 2025 | Three years | $250,000 |
| William Lonergan Hill | Four years; sentenced November 19, 2025 | Three years | $250,000 |
Both sentences were imposed by Judge Cote, according to DOJ. The supervised-release terms and fines were also reported in its sentencing announcement.
What happened to the service?
In its April 2024 announcement, DOJ said Samourai’s web servers and domain had been seized and that a warrant had been served on Google Play. The release said the app was no longer available for download from Google Play in the United States at that time. That statement describes the situation reported in 2024; it does not establish availability on every platform or its current status.
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How to read the case’s figures
- More than 80,000 Bitcoin: volume DOJ said passed through Whirlpool and Ricochet.
- Over $2 billion: DOJ’s contemporaneous exchange-rate valuation of that Bitcoin volume in its 2025 plea announcement.
- Over $6 million: fees DOJ estimated the service generated, as stated in the plea announcement.
- Over $237 million: illegal transactions DOJ said Samourai facilitated, as stated at sentencing.
- $237,832,360.55: forfeiture order reported at sentencing.
- $6,367,139.69: fees DOJ said had been paid in forfeiture.
The measures answer different questions. Transaction volume and its estimated dollar value describe activity through the service; the criminal-proceeds and forfeiture figures describe amounts DOJ associated with illegal transactions and the court’s forfeiture order; the fee figures concern revenue attributed to the service.
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