U.S. prosecutors insist on re-examining Tornado Cash founder, Roman Storm laments: Writing open-source code should only warrant 40 years in prison

U.S. Manhattan Federal Prosecutors Officially Request Reconsideration of Co-Founder Roman Storm’s Charges of Money Laundering Conspiracy and Conspiracy to Violate Sanctions, Despite the Jury’s Inability to Reach Consensus on These Two Charges Last Year. Storm Expresses Frustration: “The Same Department of Justice, Yet They Want to Re-try Me.”
(Background: U.S. Department of Justice Declares Tornado Cash Founder Roman Storm Guilty of “Unlicensed Fund Transfer,” Crypto Community Shows Collective Support)
(Additional Context: DeFi Regulation Dawn: U.S. Department of Justice: Will No Longer Prosecute Decentralized Software Developers for “Unlicensed Transfers”)

Table of Contents

Toggle

• Jury Deadlocked on Two Felony Charges
• Storm: “Facing 40 Years in Prison for Coding”
• Crypto Advocacy Group Criticizes: " Extremely Disappointing"
• Same Department of Justice, Two Standards?

On Monday, U.S. Manhattan Federal Prosecutor Jay Clayton submitted a letter to Federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla, requesting a re-examination of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm’s case, pursuing charges of money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to violate sanctions. The prosecution suggests the new hearing be scheduled around October 5-12, lasting approximately three weeks.

The letter states that prosecutors initially planned to hold the re-trial this spring, but Storm’s defense attorneys indicated they would be available only from late 2026. Storm’s side argues that setting a new trial date before the resolution of a pending motion for acquittal (expected to be reviewed in early April) is “premature.”

Jury Deadlocked on Two Felony Charges

Last August, a Manhattan federal jury found Storm guilty of “conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transfer business,” but failed to reach a consensus on the more serious charges of money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to violate sanctions, rendering these charges “hung,” thus qualifying for a retrial.

Storm has consistently denied all charges and filed a motion for acquittal in October, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove he intentionally assisted criminals in using Tornado Cash for illegal activities.

Storm: “Facing 40 Years in Prison for Coding”

Storm later responded on X (formerly Twitter), stating that if the two charges the prosecution plans to re-try are proven, he could face “up to 40 years in federal prison”:

Because I wrote open-source code. Because of a protocol I cannot control. Because of transactions I never handled.

“The jury was unable to find this constitutes a crime, but SDNY prosecutors still want to try again, hoping for a different outcome,” Storm added.

Crypto Advocacy Group Criticizes: “Extremely Disappointing”

Amanda Tuminelli, Legal Director of the crypto advocacy organization DeFi Education Fund, also posted on X criticizing the Department of Justice’s decision to pursue a re-trial of Storm as “extremely disappointing.”

She pointed out that “the first trial failed to persuade the jury,” and during the process, multiple obvious errors were made, including calling irrelevant witnesses, failing to understand blockchain forensic evidence, and making “multiple legal and logical fallacies” regarding third-party developer liability.

Same Department of Justice, Two Standards?

Notably, a report submitted to Congress this month by the U.S. Department of the Treasury admits that crypto mixers do have legitimate uses, including those “seeking to maintain more privacy in their spending habits.”

Storm also cited a memo released earlier this year by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which explicitly states that the Department of Justice “is not a digital asset regulatory agency,” and that the department “will no longer pursue prosecutions or enforcement actions that effectively impose a regulatory framework on digital assets.”

“The same country, the same Department of Justice — yet they just filed for a re-trial against me,” Storm lamented.