In accordance with protection from Inside Metropolis Press and Peter Van Valkenburgh, the jury failed to succeed in a unanimous choice on the cash laundering cost and on the conspiracy to violate US financial sanctions cost.
US prosecutors then tried to have Storm remanded to jail. They argued that his connections to Russia, his feedback on dishonest the immigration system, and the tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} price of funds he owns all make him a flight threat.
Decide: Let me see it… Deputy: Mr. Foreperson, Rely 1, how do you discover?Foreperson: Not unanimous.Deputy 2: Rely 2?Foreperson: Responsible.Deputy: Rely 3, IEEPA?Foreperson: Not responsible.
— Inside Metropolis Press (@innercitypress) August 6, 2025
Storm’s protection, nonetheless, argued that these immigration feedback concerned Russians freaking out over the warfare in Ukraine and that his entry to crypto is closely restricted. In addition they famous that he has numerous members of the family within the US and that his home in Washington is tied up in a bond.
Certainly, Decide Katherine Polk Failla sided with Storm’s protection. She mentioned, “There is a lot of fighting left in this case before sentencing, and I think Mr. Storm will stay for it.”
For working an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise, Storm faces as much as 5 years in jail. The federal government might request a retrial of the undecided costs.
Jury “deadlocked” over Twister Money cash laundering cost
Inside Metropolis Press reported earlier as we speak that the jury suggested Failla that they had been “deadlocked” and unable to succeed in a unanimous choice on all three costs.
Failla then urged jurors to carry the trial to an finish, by means of a partial verdict (returning a call on simply a few of the counts), if vital. The jury retired for roughly one hour earlier than returning with the blended outcomes for Storm.
In the course of the trial, the credibility of the prosecution’s blockchain forensics knowledgeable was referred to as into query, whereas the entire case proved controversial amongst privateness advocates, particularly since sanctions towards addresses associated to Twister Money itself had been lifted earlier this 12 months.
The prosecution was accused of “weaponizing” Telegram messages between CoinDesk journalists and the Twister crew, referring to laundering funds from 2022’s $600 million Ronin Bridge hack, carried out by sanctioned North Korean hackers.
In the course of the trial, in addition they underlined that the Twister Money crew knew of their platform’s use as a cash laundering device, making mild of the actual fact on T-shirts that includes a washer alongside the phrase “I keep my Ether clean with tornado.cash.”
Replace 2025-08-06 17:53 UTC: A earlier model of this text incorrectly claimed that the jury discovered Roman Storm not responsible on the cost associated to conspiracy to commit sanctions evasion; the jury didn’t attain a unanimous verdict on this cost.
