The U.S. Justice Department has marked a significant milestone in its efforts against crypto-related financial crime with the sentencing of William Lonergan Hill, the Chief Technology Officer of Samourai Wallet. Hill received a four-year prison sentence for his involvement with a Bitcoin mixing platform that allegedly processed over $237 million in illicit proceeds. This sentencing follows the recent five-year term given to Samourai CEO Keonne Rodriguez for similar charges.
The prosecution, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, asserted that Hill and Rodriguez deliberately operated Samourai Wallet as an unlicensed money-transmitting business designed to obscure illicit transactions. Key offerings from the platform, namely the Whirlpool mixing tool and the Ricochet transaction-hopping service, reportedly facilitated the laundering of over 80,000 Bitcoin, valued in excess of $2 billion at the time of the transactions.
Authorities have linked the funds processed through Samourai to a range of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, operations on darknet markets, cyber intrusions, fraud schemes, murder-for-hire endeavors, and even a child pornography website. Findings in court filings reveal that the founders of Samourai were not only aware of the unlawful usage of their services but actively encouraged criminal behaviors. Specific examples include Hill promoting the Whirlpool mixer on the darknet forum Dread, where he assured users seeking to “clean dirty BTC” that it was an optimal tool for achieving untraceability. Similarly, Rodriguez reportedly urged hackers via Twitter to utilize Samourai’s platform for moving stolen funds, describing mixing as “money laundering for Bitcoin” in private conversations.
Judge Denise L. Cote imposed a five-year prison sentence on Rodriguez on November 6, accompanied by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Hill was subjected to the same financial penalties and supervised release conditions. Both individuals have forfeited over $6.3 million accrued from their operations at Samourai, fulfilling part of a court order relating to the $237 million in traceable criminal proceeds.
The legal proceedings surrounding this case have been turbulent, with earlier allegations that prosecutors withheld information from FinCEN, which suggested that as a non-custodial wallet, Samourai did not require a money transmitter license. Despite these claims, prosecutors maintained that the platform exercised “functional control” over user assets, leading to the present sentencing.
This case stands amid a broader crackdown on crypto founders and developers of privacy tools by the DOJ. Increased scrutiny is fueled by alarming statistics regarding digital asset theft; a recent Global Ledger report highlighted that $3 billion in digital assets were stolen within the first half of 2025, with a significant portion of these funds being fully laundered before public alerts could be issued. Authorities warn that stolen assets can be routed through laundering pathways within minutes, complicating the recovery efforts.
The sentencing of Samourai’s founders underscores the U.S. government’s commitment to pursuing developers whose platforms facilitate criminal financial activities, regardless of whether the technology is categorized as open-source or non-custodial.
