US Gov’t Agrees to Release TDev on Bail, But Where Will He Go?

A recent court filing in the case against Samourai Wallet founders Keonne Rordiguez and William Lonergan Hill (aka TDev) reveals that the U.S. Government has agreed to release Hill on bail.

According to the filing, Hill is set to make his initial court appearance in the Southern District of New York on July 9 or 10, 2024, following his extradition from Portugal.

The filing states that both parties have agreed to Hill’s release on bail, with his defense team requesting that he be released to his home in Lisbon, Portugal, pending trial. However, the U.S. government opposes this, suggesting that Hill be released to his sister’s basement in Brooklyn.

As part of the bail package, Hill’s family has offered a $2 million bond, including $200,000 in cash and a family home in New York. The defense team has also proposed increasing the bail package to $3 million by including additional family real estate in Europe.

The case against Hill and his co-defendant Keonne Rordiguez has sparked controversy, with Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon writing an open letter in May criticizing the prosecution’s “unprecedented and unlawful change in interpretation of the law.”

Hill’s defense team argues that FinCEN guidance has long made clear that peer-to-peer apps like Samourai Wallet do not qualify as money-transmitting services and that Hill’s operation of the wallet for nine years without issue demonstrates that he believed it was legal.

Interestingly, the defense team has also pointed out that Google made Samourai Wallet available in its app store for nine years before removing it following Hill’s arrest. This has raised questions about whether Google would be considered an unindicted co-conspirator if the U.S. Government’s argumentation is accepted.

Hill’s defense team has described the U.S. Government’s prosecution as “aggressive as it is expansive” and has vowed to contest the charges at trial. The case has sparked widespread interest in the crypto community, with many following developments under the hashtag #WhereIsTDevD.

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