Keonne Rodriguez, who pleaded responsible to at least one felony rely associated to his position at Samourai Pockets, is looking on US President Donald Trump to pardon him, citing comparable language that has been profitable in earlier pardon purposes.
In a Thursday X put up, Rodriguez mentioned he would report back to jail on Friday, the place he’ll serve a five-year sentence for working an unlawful cash transmitter. The Samourai co-founder claimed there have been no “victims” to his crime, and blamed his incarceration on “lawfare perpetrated by a weaponized Biden DOJ.”
In a message tagging Trump, Rodriguez expressed hope that the US president would concern a federal pardon for him and William “Invoice” Lonergan Hill, one other Samourai govt who pleaded responsible and was sentenced to 4 years. Rodriguez blamed “activist judges” for his authorized troubles, claiming he was focused by a “political anti-innovation agenda.”
“I keep hope that [Trump] is a good man, a person of the folks, who will see this prosecution for what it was: an anti innovation, anti american, assault on the rights and liberties of free folks,” mentioned Rodriguez. “I imagine his crew […] and others really need to finish the weaponization of the DOJ that the earlier administration wielded so successfully […] I imagine he’ll proceed to wield that energy for good and pardon me and Invoice.”
Associated: Samourai Pockets co-founders to now plead responsible to US expenses
Rodriguez’s public plea adopted Trump’s assertion that he would “have a look” at a pardon for the Samourai co-founder, claiming that he had no information of the case. It’s unclear whether or not Rodriguez filed an official utility for a pardon or is counting on public statements to get the president’s consideration.
Different crypto execs efficiently lobbied for a Trump pardon
Certainly one of Trump’s first acts as president in January was to concern a pardon for Silk Street founder Ross Ulbricht, who had been serving a life sentence for his position in creating and working the darknet market.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who pleaded responsible to at least one felony in 2023 associated to the change’s Anti-Cash Laundering program, served 4 months in jail but additionally acquired a pardon from the president. Trump later mentioned he “[knew] nothing about” Zhao when requested in regards to the pardon in a November interview.
Rodguiez’s language addressing Trump mirrored feedback from the White Home on earlier pardons. For instance, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned it was a “weaponization of justice from the earlier administration” when the president commuted the sentence of David Gentile, who was convicted of defrauding “1000’s of particular person traders in a $1.6 billion” scheme in 2024.
Crypto customers on Polymarket weren’t given the selection of betting on the chances of a Trump pardon of Rodriguez as of Friday. On the time of publication, Trump ally Steve Bannon had the best odds, at 9%.
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