Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York | Department of Justice
Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, co-founders of the cryptocurrency mixing service Samourai Wallet, have pleaded guilty to operating a money transmitting business that facilitated over $200 million in illegal transactions. The announcement was made by Nicolas Roos, Attorney for the United States acting under authority conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515; Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of IRS-Criminal Investigation’s New York Field Office; and Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office.
Rodriguez, Samourai's Chief Executive Officer, and Hill, its Chief Technology Officer, admitted to participating in a conspiracy to transmit proceeds from criminal activities such as illegal dark web markets, cyber intrusions, spear phishing schemes, and fraud against decentralized finance protocols. Their guilty pleas were entered on July 30, 2025 before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote.
“The defendants created and operated a cryptocurrency mixing service that they knew enabled criminals to wash millions in dirty money, including proceeds from cryptocurrency thefts, drug trafficking operations, and fraud schemes,” said Attorney for the United States Nicolas Roos. “When criminals exploit cryptocurrency technology for illicit purposes, it undermines the public trust and unfairly burdens legitimate cryptocurrency companies that are committed to operating lawfully. This Office and our partner agencies are committed to holding accountable those who exploit emerging technologies to launder crime proceeds.”
“Rodriguez and Hill admitted to operating a money transmitting business that transmitted crime proceeds, essentially ‘washing’ more than $200 million in ‘dirty’ money for criminals,” said Special Agent in Charge of IRS-CI Harry T. Chavis Jr. “They did not just facilitate this illicit movement of money but also encouraged it. Special Agents with IRS-CI New York and IRS-CI LA’s Cyber units worked with our federal and international law enforcement partners in this investigation that detailed the company’s clear disregard for the rule of law. Even with all the ‘washing’ in this scheme, no one was clean in these transactions.”
“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.”
According to court documents and admissions from Rodriguez and Hill:
Starting around 2015, Rodriguez and Hill developed Samourai Wallet as a mobile application intended for transmitting criminal proceeds using two main features: Whirlpool—a Bitcoin mixing service launched in 2019—and Ricochet—introduced earlier—which inserted additional steps between sending and receiving addresses. These tools obscured transaction origins on the blockchain so funds could not be easily traced by authorities or exchanges.
From Ricochet’s launch in 2017 through Whirlpool’s operation beginning two years later, over 80,000 Bitcoin—worth more than $2 billion at prevailing exchange rates—passed through these services; Samourai collected an estimated $6 million from user fees during this period.
Evidence showed both men actively promoted Samourai's utility for concealing illicit funds on platforms like WhatsApp—where Rodriguez described "mixing" as “money laundering for bitcoin”—and darknet forums such as Dread where Hill recommended Samourai Whirlpool as superior for making “dirty BTC” untraceable compared with competitors.
In June-July 2020 after a high-profile hack of a social media platform resulted in stolen crypto assets being moved online (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-charged-cryptocurrency-hacking-scheme-involving-social-media-platform), both defendants encouraged use of their service via Twitter rather than reporting or deterring further criminal activity.
Rodriguez (age 36) from Harmony, Pennsylvania was arrested domestically while Hill (age 67), a U.S national residing abroad at times was extradited from Portugal following assistance by multiple international agencies including Europol (https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/europol-supports-takedown-of-illegal-cryptocurrency-mixing-service). Both pled guilty to conspiracy charges carrying up to five years imprisonment each; they agreed as part of plea deals to forfeit nearly $238 million.
The case involved collaboration among IRS-CI offices across several regions along with support from international law enforcement partners such as Portuguese Judicial Police (https://www.policiajudiciaria.pt/) and Icelandic Police (https://www.logreglan.is/english/).
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted significantly with extradition proceedings related specifically to Hill.
Prosecution is led by Assistant U.S Attorneys Andrew K. Chan, David R. Felton, and Cecilia Vogel within specialized units handling complex frauds/cybercrime alongside illicit finance/money laundering cases.
