Arrested Samourai Wallet co-founder to be released on bail, will contest charges

William Lonergan Hill, who was arrested in April along with fellow Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez on federal charges of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, has been granted bail by the U.S. government, though the specific terms are still undecided.

A recent letter from Hill's defense states that the parties have agreed to bail for Hill, but remain divided over where his time should be spent. The defense argues that the 65-year-old developer, who grew up in Brooklyn before moving to Paris and then Portugal, should be allowed to remain in Portugal with his wife. Department of Justice prosecutors prefer that Hill stay in his sister's basement in Brooklyn, according to the filing, first spotted by publication The Rage. 

Rodriguez has already pleaded not guilty to the two charges and was released on a $1 million bond, while Hill's "extraordinarily robust bail package," according to the letter, consists of at least $3 million in assets. Were the court to agree to release Hill to Portugal, that package would increase to about $4.4 million supported by pledges from his wife and family members, who "...all have bet their financial futures on his abiding by the terms of the bond," the letter states. 

Hill will contest charges

According to the letter, like his co-founder, Hill plans on contesting the charges. Hill's lawyer notes that because discovery in the case is expected to be voluminous, along with many expected pre-trial actions, the actual trial might not take place until "deep into 2025."

In the letter, Hill's lawyer also lays out some arguments in support of Hill, from legal analysis to notes of support from prominent individuals, which may provide a preview of the defense's arguments in the upcoming case. 

In one interesting argument, Hill's lawyer points out that Samourai Wallet was available on Google's App Store from its launch in May 2015 to April 2024, at which point Google delisted the app following the arrest of the two co-founders. If Samourai Wallet was intended as a money-laundering service, the defense argues, the government's own logic would make Google an unindicted co-conspirator for offering the app to the world's nearly 4 billion Android users. 

Furthermore, the defense argues that the charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering depends on the charge that Samourai Wallet was an unlicensed money-transmitting business, in opposition to FinCEN's guidance at the time. "If Samourai Wallet was not a money transmitting business, it had no obligations to prevent money laundering under the [Bank Secrecy Act]," the letter states. 

Also included in the filing is a letter from Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ron Wyden, a bipartisan duo who wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland to argue, "Subjecting developers of non-custodial crypto asset software to potential criminal liability as unregistered money transmitters contravenes the well-established interpretation of [FinCEN's guidance] and will only serve to stifle innovation and shake confidence in the DOJ's respect for the rule of law."

Hill is scheduled to make his first appearance at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 9 or 10, according to the letter.