A Manhattan jury found Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm guilty of charges related to conspiracy to run an unlicensed money business.
In a Wednesday decision in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Storm was found guilty of one felony charge related to his role at Tornado Cash, according to court reports from Inner City Press.
The jury convicted Roman on conspiracy to run an unlicensed money transmittal business, which carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. No unanimity was reached on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering nor on conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions.
After four days of deliberations, jurors in the trial informed the court on early Wednesday that they were deadlocked on certain charges, prompting the judge to issue a special instruction urging them to reach a unanimous verdict.
The prosecutor’s case focused on presenting witnesses, mainly from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and hackers, who testified that Storm had the ability to modify Tornado Cash’s code to prevent illicit use by criminals but chose not to. Storm’s legal team put forth its own experts, including Ethereum core developer Preston Van Loon and NAXO co-founder Matthew Edman.
The Tornado Cash co-founder was indicted in August 2023 for money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. Storm pleaded not guilty and had been free on bail since his arraignment.
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Judge Katherine Failla reportedly said during Storm’s trial that she was being mindful of other crypto-related cases, including former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain and OneCoin co-founder Karl Greenwood. All three, whose cases were litigated in SDNY, were sentenced to serve time in prison.
Storm’s sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled, and prior to and throughout the trial, Storm claimed he was innocent of the charges.
Supporters of the Tornado Cash co-founder contributed more than $3 million to his legal defense fund. Among those who donated the most were Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Paradigm founder Matt Huang and the Ethereum Foundation.
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Additional reporting by Vince Quill
