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William Lonergan Hill, co-founder and former CTO of Samourai Wallet, was sentenced to four years in federal prison on November 19 for operating a cryptocurrency mixing service that processed more than $2 billion in illicit transactions.
The sentence follows a five-year term handed down earlier this month to Samourai CEO Keonne Rodriguez, concluding what the Justice Department has called a landmark prosecution targeting developers of crypto privacy tools.
The Bitcoin laundering scheme centered on Samourai’s two flagship features:
Whirlpool, a coin-mixing service
Ricochet, a transaction obfuscation system
According to prosecutors, these services processed over 80,000 BTC, including at least $237 million directly linked to darknet markets, drug cartels, cybercriminal groups, sanction-evading operations, and even child exploitation rings.
“This was not an accidental misuse of technology,” said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. “The evidence showed that Samourai Wallet’s leadership deliberately built a platform to facilitate large-scale money laundering.”
Court records show that Hill advertised the mixer on the darknet forum Dread, telling a user who wanted to “clean dirty BTC” that Whirlpool was an ideal tool for making funds impossible to trace.
Rodriguez was even more explicit—encouraging hackers publicly on Twitter in July 2020 to send stolen funds into Samourai’s system.
The Bitcoin laundering scheme wasn’t just passively exploited—it was promoted. Prosecutors presented WhatsApp messages in which Rodriguez described mixing as “money laundering for Bitcoin.”
“Their intent was unmistakable,” said Nicole Argentieri, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the DOJ’s Criminal Division. “The Samourai team knowingly positioned their tools as a laundering service for criminals seeking to evade law enforcement.”
Both men pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business—after facing initial charges including money laundering and sanctions violations.
The Bitcoin laundering scheme case resulted in steep financial penalties. Hill and Rodriguez were each fined $250,000and ordered to forfeit more than $6.3 million in fees generated from Samourai operations.
The DOJ said this satisfied an order seeking the equivalent of $237 million in identifiable criminal proceeds.
Judge Denise L. Cote, who imposed Rodriguez’s five-year sentence on November 6, said during the hearing, “These tools enabled criminals to cause extraordinary harm while evading accountability. That cannot be tolerated in a financial system based on trust.”
The crypto laundering scheme crackdown comes amid a sweeping DOJ push targeting developers of mixers, privacy wallets, and high-risk crypto platforms.
Recent actions include:
Changpeng Zhao, former Binance CEO, sentenced in 2023 for AML failures
Sam Bankman-Fried, serving 25 years for fraud
BitMEX founders charged for AML violations
Ross Ulbricht, Alexander Vinnik, and the Bitfinex hackers facing long-term prison terms
Firas Isa, indicted in 2025 for laundering funds through crypto ATMs
A Global Ledger study shows $3 billion in crypto was stolen in the first half of 2025 alone, with one-quarter of those cases laundered fully before the public even became aware.
Experts say the verdict sends a clear message: developers of crypto privacy tools may face criminal liability if their products actively facilitate illegal finance.
“This case signals that intent matters,” said Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs. “If a team builds and promotes tools for laundering, the DOJ will treat them like any other financial criminals.”
With both Samourai founders now behind bars, regulators say the case will shape the next decade of crypto AML enforcement—and redefine accountability for privacy-tool developers.
