Key Takeaways
- William Lonergan Hill, co-founder and CTO of the Bitcoin privacy service Samourai Wallet, has been sentenced to four years (48 months) in prison for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
- Hill and co-founder Keonne Rodriguez processed over $2 billion in Bitcoin through mixing tools like “Whirlpool,” with prosecutors arguing the service was deliberately marketed to criminals on darknet forums.
- Hill’s defense cited his recently diagnosed autism as a factor impairing his legal judgment, which led the presiding judge to reduce his sentence from the requested 60 months to 48 months.
Samourai Wallet CTO Receives Prison Sentence
The case has sparked a huge fight over where a software developer’s liability ends, but for William Lonergan Hill (67), the answer is four years in a federal prison. The Samourai Wallet CTO and co-founder was handed the sentence, plus three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine, after admitting in July that he conspired to run an unlicensed money transmitter.
Hill’s co-founder, Keonne Rodriguez, got it even worse, receiving five years earlier this month. The duo ran Samourai Wallet from 2017 to 2024, reportedly moving over $2 billion in Bitcoin through mixing services like “Whirlpool” and “Ricochet,” netting about $6 million in fees along the way.
U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos didn’t mince words about the ultimate goal: “The sentences… send a clear message that laundering known criminal proceeds, no matter the technology, will face serious consequences.” Prosecutors had smoking gun evidence, too: Hill was caught promoting Samourai on the darknet forum Dread as a method to “clean dirty BTC,” while Rodriguez was reportedly busted in private messages describing the service as “money laundering for Bitcoin.”
Autism Defense Leads to Reduced Term
At the sentencing, Hill’s lawyers tried a wild card: they argued his recently diagnosed autism impaired his legal judgment. The defense claimed Hill genuinely operated under a “magical thinking, autistic view” that since he didn’t hold the keys to his software (it was non-custodial), he couldn’t possibly be legally responsible for how criminals used it.
Judge Denise L. Cote admitted the diagnosis would make prison “more difficult” for Hill but ultimately shot down the idea that it excused his crimes. She did, however, take it into account, cutting the sentence from the 60 months the prosecution wanted down to 48 months. Hill is set to report to prison on January 2nd next year.
The entire crypto community is now in an uproar, fearing this ruling creates a terrifying precedent that exposes every single software developer to criminal liability if their open-source code is misused. Meanwhile, Rodriguez, who’s already serving five years, has started a public petition fighting for pardons for both of them.
Final Thoughts
The sentencing of Samourai Wallet’s CTO, William Hill, to four years is a landmark moment that reasserts the legal boundaries for privacy-focused software in the United States. While the use of an autism defense introduced an unusual mitigating factor, the conviction underscores the judiciary’s stance: anonymity tools, particularly those overtly promoted for illegal activity, will not be granted immunity from unlicensed money transmission laws.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was William Hill sentenced for?
He was sentenced for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business through the use of the Samourai Wallet mixing tools.
What was the total value of Bitcoin processed by Samourai Wallet?
Authorities claim the wallet’s mixing services processed over $2 billion in Bitcoin between 2017 and 2024.
How did the court address Hill’s autism diagnosis?
The judge acknowledged the diagnosis would make prison more difficult but rejected it as an excuse for the crime, ultimately using it to justify a reduction from a 60-month to a 48-month sentence.