Virgil Griffith, Former Ethereum Developer, Requests Reduced Sentence for Aiding North Korea with Blockchain Technology

Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith, who was sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2022 for helping North Korea utilize blockchain technology, has filed a request to have his sentence reduced. Griffith’s attorney, Glen Garrett McGorty, submitted a letter to Judge Kevin Castel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 17, arguing for a revision of Griffith’s sentence based on recent changes to U.S. sentencing guidelines. These changes include a provision for a two-point reduction in the offense level for certain “zero-point” offenders. Griffith’s legal team claims that he meets the criteria for this reduction. Originally, Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in prison and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine in April 2022 after pleading guilty to violating U.S. sanctions laws. His offense involved attending a conference in North Korea and providing assistance to the country in using blockchain technology, despite economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. The requested reduction in Griffith’s sentence would lower his offense level from 26 to 24, which could potentially reduce his term by a year or more. In the letter, Griffith’s defense team requests that the court instruct the U.S. Probation Office to prepare a revised pre-sentence investigation report and schedule a resentencing hearing. They also seek an opportunity to present updated information and arguments in support of their reduction request. A “zero-point” offender, as defined in the revised guidelines, refers to a first-time, non-violent offender who poses a lower risk of reoffending compared to others. Griffith’s defense argues that he falls into this category. In addition to his prison sentence, Griffith also faced a 10-year ban on export privileges imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce in May 2023. This ban prevented him from engaging in any transactions involving commodities, software, or technology subject to U.S. export regulations. The ban was implemented while he was serving the first year of his five-year sentence. In a separate case, Roman Storm, co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, has challenged the charges against him. Storm’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss all three charges, claiming that he did not run a money laundering business and did not violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. They argue that Tornado Cash was developed and publicly available before it was utilized by hacking groups that were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury. They also claim that Storm had limited control over preventing a “sanctioned entity from using it” by the time the alleged misconduct occurred.