Roman Storm, a developer behind the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, will see his criminal trial delayed until April, following a New York judge’s decision.
The four-month postponement allows both sides more time to address a contentious issue over expert witness disclosures. Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York previously ordered that both parties share details about their expert witnesses in preparation for trial.
Storm’s defense team pushed back on the disclosure requirement, arguing it could unfairly reveal their defense strategy and “greatly prejudice Mr. Storm.” They further argued that Judge Failla’s directive potentially conflicts with federal rules, which generally prevent the government from compelling the defense to disclose expert witness details unless it requests similar information from the prosecution—a step Storm’s defense team intentionally avoided.
In response to Judge Failla’s order, Klein’s team filed a mandamus petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, asking it to overturn the ruling. A hearing on the petition is set for November 12.
Storm’s trial, now scheduled to begin April 14, 2024, is expected to last two weeks. The charges against him include conspiracy to facilitate money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitter, and violating sanctions. If convicted on all counts, Storm could face up to 45 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that Tornado Cash and its developers knowingly facilitated the laundering of over $1 billion, including hundreds of millions linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
Storm has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyers argued in a motion to dismiss, filed in March, that Storm merely wrote the code for Tornado Cash, and any illicit use of the code was beyond his control. However, Judge Failla rejected this argument, allowing the case to proceed.
Additionally, the judge denied Storm’s motion to compel the DOJ to produce documents from Dutch authorities. The defense had requested access to materials related to Alexey Pertsev, another Tornado Cash developer recently convicted of money laundering in the Netherlands.
The judge ruled that Storm’s team had not demonstrated the relevance of the Dutch materials, calling the defense’s argument “speculative.”
Pertsev was sentenced to 64 months in prison by a Dutch court in May for facilitating $1.2 billion in money laundering through the crypto mixer between July 2019 and August 2022.
Tornado Cash is a decentralized protocol that provides privacy for transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to make anonymous transfers. While private financial transactions are legal, Tornado Cash has been exploited by some users for money laundering.
One of the judges characterized Tornado Cash as primarily a tool for criminal activity, which played a key role in Pertsev’s conviction.
