Evidently the U.S. Marshall Service (USMS) has bought the $6.3 million price of bitcoin that Samourai Pockets builders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill paid the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) as a price that was a part of their responsible plea.
In doing so, it has doubtlessly violated Government Order (EO) 14233, which mandates that bitcoin acquired by way of felony or civil asset forfeiture proceedings ought to be held as a part of the US’ Technique Bitcoin Reserve (SBR).
If the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the federal judicial district wherein the Samourai case was to be tried, did, in truth, violate EO 14233, it will not be the primary time staff of the SDNY have acted in defiance of route from the federal authorities.
What Occurred to the Bitcoin?
In response to a doc titled “Asset Liquidation Settlement”, which has been obtained solely by Bitcoin Journal and has not till now been made public, the bitcoin that Rodriguez and Hill forfeited is to be bought — or already has been.
As per the doc, the defendants agreed to switch $6,367,139.69 price of bitcoin — 57.55353033 bitcoin on the time the ultimate occasion signed the settlement, which was Assistant United States Lawyer Cecilia Vogelon November 3, 2025 — to the USMS.
The bitcoin, which was despatched from handle bc1q4pntkz06z7xxvdcers09cyjqz5gf8ut4pua22r on November 3, 2025, appears to have bypassed any direct custody by the USMS. As an alternative, it appears to have been despatched on to Coinbase Prime handle 3Lz5ULL7nG7vv6nwc8kNnbjDmSnawKS3n8 (Arkham Intel attributes this handle to the brokerage), presumably to be bought.
This Coinbase Prime handle at present has a zero steadiness, indicating that the bitcoin could have already been bought.
Violating Government Order 14233
If the USMS has bought the forfeited bitcoin, it possible contravened EO 14233, which orders that bitcoin acquired by the U.S. authorities by way of felony forfeiture, termed “Authorities BTC” within the EO, “shall not be bought” and ought to be contributed into the U.S. SBR.
If the USMS bought the bitcoin, they did so at their very own discretion and never as a authorized mandate, which signifies that sure members of the DOJ should still view bitcoin as a taboo asset to be offloaded versus a strategic asset that President Trump has directed authorities businesses to retain.
On condition that the Samourai prosecution originated underneath the earlier administration, which was notoriously hostile towards noncustodial crypto instruments and their builders, the choice to disregard EO 14233 and promote the bitcoin regardless of a mandate from the manager department matches a sample of treating bitcoin as one thing that ought to be faraway from authorities steadiness sheets as quickly as doable.
Authorized Particulars Relating to the Forfeiture and Liquidation
In response to a authorized supply near this matter, the Samourai builders’ forfeited their bitcoin underneath 18 U.S. Code § 982(a)(1), which stipulates that any offense that violates 18 U.S. Code § 1960, the statute that prohibits the operation of unlicensed cash transmitting companies, orders that particular person to forfeit to the US any property concerned within the offense.
Judging by § 982 and its incorporation of 21 U.S.C. § 853(c), a felony forfeiture statute that stipulates that “property that’s subsequently transferred to an individual apart from the defendant would be the topic of a particular verdict of forfeiture and thereafter shall be ordered forfeited to the US,” the bitcoin that Rodriguez and Hill forfeited matches the EO’s definition of “Authorities BTC”.
Neither § 982 nor the included § 853 requires that property that’s forfeited as a part of a felony offense be liquidated. Moreover, the fund forfeiture statutes cited in part three of the EO — 31 U.S.C. § 9705 and 28 U.S.C. § 524(c) — regulate the place forfeiture proceeds are deposited and the way they could be used; they don’t require that forfeited bitcoin be transformed to money fairly than held in variety.
The EO additionally stipulates that “Authorities BTC” falls underneath the umbrella of “Authorities Digital Property” and states that “the pinnacle of every company shall not promote or in any other case eliminate any Authorities Digital Property” besides in sure situations, none of which apply within the Rodriguez or Hill circumstances and, in all of which, the U.S. lawyer common would play a job in figuring out what ought to be achieved with the forfeited digital property.
The Sovereign District of New York
When taking EO 14233 and the statutes cited on this article under consideration, the SDNY appears to have acted in a way that defies the EO 14233’s mandate to switch bitcoin obtained by way of felony forfeiture to the U.S. SBR.
This might not mark the primary time that the SDNY has acted in such a way.
The judicial jurisdiction, typically colloquially known as “Sovereign District of New York,” has earned a status for working independently and unilaterally, regardless of being a part of a federal system.
The truth that the SDNY proceeded with the circumstances towards Rodriguez and Hill in addition to the case towards Twister Money developer Roman Storm, is additional proof of this.
On April 7, 2025, Deputy Lawyer Basic Todd Blanche issued a memo entitled “Ending Regulation By Prosecution” wherein he said “the Division [of Justice] will not goal digital foreign money exchanges, mixing and tumbling providers, and offline wallets for the acts of their finish customers…”
The SDNY appeared to ignore the language on this memo, although, because it proceeded with the Samourai Pockets or Twister Money circumstances.
And when the protection crew for Hill and Rodrguez discovered as per a Brady request that two high-ranking members of the U.S. Division of the Treasury’s Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN) “strongly steered” that Samourai Pockets wasn’t serving as a cash transmitter as a result of noncustodial nature of the service, the prosecution proceeded anyway.
On the subject of felony circumstances tried throughout the federal court docket system, over 90% of defendants are convicted and sentenced, with as little as 0.4% being acquitted some years. And the prosecution for SDNY circumstances has a status for having an excellent greater win price.
Rodriguez was conscious of those statistics, in addition to the truth that Choose Denise Cote, the choose who presided over his and Hill’s circumstances, has a status for harsh sentencing.
He informed me as a lot the morning earlier than he pleaded responsible to the conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitter enterprise cost.
Is the Warfare on Crypto Actually Over?
Many Bitcoin and crypto proponents who voted for President Trump in 2024 in addition to the crypto business, which supported the president in his reelection, at the moment are starting to query whether or not or not President Trump actually does need to see an finish to the warfare on crypto.
For this to occur, the DOJ underneath President Trump should honor what is remitted in EO 14233 and comply with Deputy Lawyer Basic Blanche’s steerage to cease prosecuting builders of noncustodial crypto know-how.
To the latter level, President Trump just lately said that he’s contemplating a pardon for Rodriguez.
His pardoning Rodriguez as properly having the DOJ look into why it bought the bitcoin that the Samourai builders forfeited would ship a sign that the president is sort of severe about his pro-Bitcoin and pro-crypto stance.