Samurai Wallet Dev Keonne Rodriguez Hit With Max Sentence in Landmark Crypto Case

Crypto's 'Wild West' era just got another reckoning.

Samurai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez received the maximum penalty in a high-profile sentencing—another warning shot across the bow of decentralized finance. The case spotlights the tightening noose around privacy tools and their creators.

No more gray zones?

Prosecutors framed the verdict as a deterrent against 'innovation' that bypasses financial oversight. Meanwhile, crypto libertarians call it a kneejerk reaction—another case of old-money regulators swinging hammers at digital nails. (Bonus jab: Somewhere, a Goldman Sachs VP just billed 400 hours to 'study' this case for 'compliance innovation.')

One thing's clear: The rules of the game are being written in real-time—with handcuffs.

Keonne Rodriguez Receives Five-Year Sentence

According to Inner City Press reporter Matthew Russell Lee, Southern District of New York Judge Denise Cote slapped Rodriguez with 60 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Rodriguez: I am sorry and will never break the law again.
Judge Cote: The letter indicated you were functioning with moral blinders on. You may be kind to strangers – but if they are victimized, you chose to use your considerable talent to make it hard to recoup

Per Inner City Press, the Bitcoin wallet developer has also been ordered to pay $250,000, equivalent to 20% of his gross monthly income.

Rodriguez will be allowed to stay out on bail until his prison surrender date on December 19.

“I am sorry and will never break the law again,” the media outlet quotes Rodriguez as saying.

Samourai Wallet Developers Face The Music

News of Rodriguez’s sentencing comes just months after he and fellow Samourai Wallet developer William Lonergan Hill pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to operate a money transmitting business.

Federal prosecutors alleged that the crypto app developers effectively transmitted crime proceeds from phishing schemes and dark web markets in order to defraud several DeFi protocols, per an August 2025 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In total, Hill and Lonergan pled guilty to launching the bitcoin wallet, which the U.S. government says washed more than $200 million in illicit transactions.

The Bitcoin wallet developers ultimately agreed to forfeit over a whopping $237 million as part of their guilty plea.

“Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill’s guilty pleas prove their cryptocurrency mixing service–Samourai Wallet–was designed to conceal criminal financial transactions and launder millions of dollars of dirty money,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Christopher G. Raia.

“The FBI is committed to bringing to justice anyone who uses technological innovation to facilitate illicit activity,” he added.