Jay Clayton, the US Criminal legitimate for the Southern District of Original York (SDNY) and used chair of the Securities and Commerce Commission (SEC), has penned a response to Tornado Money co-founder Roman Storm’s circulate for acquittal, criticizing his alleged prison conduct.
In a Tuesday submitting in the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of Original York, Clayton acknowledged that Storm’s prison exercise of Tornado Money became once “window dressing at easiest and outright misdirection at worst,” rejecting arguments that he be allowed to make exercise of a civil copyright case in his defense.
The US Criminal legitimate’s submitting followed a Thursday leer from Storm’s attorneys announcing they supposed to make exercise of a 2026 Supreme Courtroom case, Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Leisure, as half of an argument about the Tornado Money co-founder’s intent to luxuriate in stop half in the crimes of which he is accused: conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.
Clayton acknowledged that Storm’s conduct “bears no resemblance” to that in the Cox case, which eager civil authorized responsibility for copyright infringement. In accordance with the US Criminal legitimate, there became once no proof that the Tornado Money co-founder applied effective anti-money-laundering measures.
“The defendant’s conduct merely is now no longer connected to the conduct at negate in Cox,” acknowledged Clayton. “In any match, a civil copyright case has no relevance right here in the first area.”
Source: SDNY
Closing August, a jury convicted Storm of conspiracy to feature an unlicensed money transmitting replace, nonetheless deadlocked on conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions costs, opening the door to a likely retrial. The case has drawn frequent attention from the crypto replace for how developers would be held to blame for his or her code.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Storm case are scheduled to meet on Thursday.
Related: US lawmakers dawdle to guard blockchain devs from prosecution
Criminal legitimate in the attend of memo calling for quit to crypto “regulation by prosecution” will get high DOJ job
Closing week, US President Donald Trump fired Criminal legitimate General Pam Bondi, substituting Deputy AG Todd Blanche as acting head of the Justice Department till the Senate can vote on a change. Blanche, who beforehand acted as Trump’s personal authorized legitimate, additionally penned an April 2025 memo calling for the head of what he called “regulation by prosecution” in the Justice Department.
Although Blanche didn’t name out Storm by name, he did voice that the department will “now no longer pursue actions in opposition to the platforms that [criminal] enterprises spend to conduct their unlawful activities” and called for an quit to cases inconsistent with that operate.
Storm cited Blanche’s memo in a March X put up after prosecutors called to retry the Tornado Money co-founder on the 2 deadlocked counts.
”The two counts = as much as 40 years in federal jail,” acknowledged Storm. “For writing open-supply code. For a protocol I develop now no longer alter. For transactions I no longer at all touched. A jury already would possibly perchance perhaps no longer agree this became once prison. However the SDNY prosecutors are searching for to luxuriate in attempting with the hope of getting a distinct acknowledge.”
It’s unclear how Blanche would possibly perchance perhaps also exercise his new role to impart DOJ protection, or how lengthy he’ll stay as acting AG. Clayton has asked a federal reveal to possess in thoughts an October retrial for Storm, nonetheless as of Tuesday, no date had been put.
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