Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez has appealed for public donations after legal costs tied to his U.S. criminal case left him with more than $2 million in debt and a $250,000 court-imposed fine.
Summary
- Keonne Rodriguez said legal fees tied to the Samourai Wallet case left him with more than $2M in debt. A U.S. court sentenced Rodriguez and William
- Lonergan Hill to prison over charges linked to the crypto mixing protocol.
- Rodriguez said he hopes for a presidential pardon, but his hopes have faded as he prepares to serve his sentence.
According to a Wednesday post Rodriguez published on X, the former Samourai Wallet developer said the financial pressure from his legal defense had exhausted his remaining resources while he prepares to serve a prison sentence tied to money laundering charges connected to the crypto mixing service.
“We are entirely out of options,” Rodriguez wrote, adding that legal bills and related debts accumulated during his defense had left him “financially wiped out.” He asked the crypto community for help covering the remaining costs.
In November, Rodriguez and fellow Samourai Wallet co-founder William Lonergan Hill received prison sentences of five and four years, respectively, after prosecutors pursued charges linked to the operation of the privacy-focused crypto mixer. U.S. authorities had accused the pair of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Federal prosecutors first charged Rodriguez and Hill in April 2024. Court records later showed both men initially pleaded not guilty before agreeing in July 2025 to plead guilty to operating an illegal money transmitting business.
During a December interview with journalist and Bitcoin educator Natalie Brunell, Rodriguez said the decision to plead guilty came after calculating the financial and legal risks tied to a full trial. According to Rodriguez, a conviction after trial could have added years to his sentence, while driving legal expenses even higher.
Legal marketplace Lawful estimates that criminal defense lawyers in the U.S. can charge between $200 and $500 per hour, while retainers in complex criminal cases can exceed $10,000 depending on the number of attorneys involved and the nature of the charges.
Privacy advocates across the crypto sector have closely tracked the Samourai Wallet case alongside proceedings involving Roman Storm, arguing that developers of open-source privacy software should not automatically face criminal liability for how third parties use their code. Several supporters have also warned that prosecutions targeting crypto privacy tools could discourage software developers from building financial privacy applications.
Rodriguez says pardon hopes are fading
U.S. President Donald Trump said in December that he would review Rodriguez’s case and consider a possible pardon. An online petition supporting a pardon had gathered 15,953 signatures as of Thursday.
Rodriguez, however, said he no longer expects presidential intervention. Comparing his situation to the pardons granted to Changpeng Zhao and Ross Ulbricht, Rodriguez said he lacked the influence and financial backing needed to attract similar political support.
“There was some hope during the Bitcoin 2026 conference, but that has now come and gone,” Rodriguez wrote on X, adding that he now expects to serve his full federal prison sentence.
