The potential implications of a five-year jail sentence are looming large for Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, following his guilty conviction on a felony charge. Storm was accused of running an unlicensed money business, a charge for which a New York jury found him culpable. This verdict was delivered in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and was the result of an intensive four-day deliberation period.
The jury failed to reach a consensus on the additional charges of money laundering and conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions. Evidence presented by prosecution witnesses indicated that Storm had the capacity to modify Tornado Cash’s code, potentially preventing the subversive use of the platform by criminals, yet elected not to do so. This narrative faced opposition from Storm’s legal team, who produced expert testimony of their own.
Storm’s troubles began in August 2023 when accusations of money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transactor came to light, along with allegations of circumventing US sanctions. Despite his not guilty plea and maintaining his innocence throughout the trial, Storm hasn’t been able to escape the shadow of other high-profile crypto cases.
Judge Katherine Failla expressed her awareness of other crypto figures sentenced to prison time, such as the likes of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, OneCoin co-founder Karl Greenwood, and former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain. Another landmark of this situation is the remarkable commitment from the Tornado Cash community, who have contributed more than $3 million towards Storm’s legal defense fund.