Roman Storm’s protection crew desires to know if the U.S. Division of Justice is withholding any data that will assist the Twister Money developer’s case.
In a letter filed late Friday, protection attorneys stated latest disclosures in one other, considerably comparable, case raised issues that prosecutors both misled the decide overseeing the case or in any other case was taking part in “quick and unfastened.”
“The protection lately realized that the federal government has possessed exculpatory supplies since August 2023 that go to the center of a elementary subject on this case: whether or not a noncustodial cryptocurrency mixer is a ‘cash transmitting enterprise’ for functions of 18 U.S.C. § 1960,” the submitting stated. “The federal government’s failure to provide these supplies within the fall of 2023, when Roman Storm was indicted and first appeared in courtroom, constitutes a Brady violation that has materially prejudiced his protection,” even after the DOJ stated it will drop a portion of its case in opposition to Storm.
Learn extra: Conduct Versus Code Could Be the Defining Query in Roman Storm Prosecution
Storm’s crew is referencing the DOJ’s case in opposition to two builders of Samourai Pockets, one other crypto mixer. In that case, protection attorneys stated earlier this month that prosecutors delayed sharing that two Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN) officers instructed the DOJ that the mixer didn’t seem like a cash transmitter.
Prosecutors denied the allegations in a courtroom submitting, saying their disclosures have been well timed and that the FinCEN officers’ views weren’t formal steering.
The DOJ stated the 2 circumstances are solely “superficially comparable,” the protection submitting stated Friday.
“However what the federal government characterizes as a superficial similarity is, in truth, the core characteristic that lies on the coronary heart of the conflicting interpretations of FinCEN steering and the scope of Part 1960:
the noncustodial nature of each protocols,” the submitting stated. “That customers exercised sole management over their belongings was a foundation for Mr. Storm’s movement to dismiss and to compel discovery of FinCEN supplies.”
The protection is asking Choose Katherine Polk Failla, who’s overseeing the case, to order the DOJ to assessment any supplies it might have that would assist Storm’s case and share the paperwork referenced within the Samourai case, in addition to when Storm’s prosecutors realized about these supplies.
