Roman Storm’s protection group desires to know if the U.S. Division of Justice is withholding any data which will assist the Twister Money developer’s case.
In a letter filed late Friday, protection attorneys mentioned 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 enjoying “quick and free.”
“The protection not too long ago realized that the federal government has possessed exculpatory supplies since August 2023 that go to the guts 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 mentioned. “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 mentioned it will drop a portion of its case in opposition to Storm.
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Storm’s group is referencing the DOJ’s case in opposition to two builders of Samourai Pockets, one other crypto mixer. In that case, protection attorneys mentioned earlier this month that prosecutors delayed sharing that two Monetary Crimes Enforcement Community (FinCEN) officers instructed the DOJ that the mixer didn’t appear to be 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 steerage.
The DOJ mentioned the 2 instances are solely “superficially comparable,” the protection submitting mentioned Friday.
“However what the federal government characterizes as a superficial similarity is, in actual fact, the core function that lies on the coronary heart of the conflicting interpretations of FinCEN steerage and the scope of Part 1960:
the noncustodial nature of each protocols,” the submitting mentioned. “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 Decide Katherine Polk Failla, who’s overseeing the case, to order the DOJ to overview any supplies it could have that might assist Storm’s case and share the paperwork referenced within the Samourai case, in addition to when Storm’s prosecutors realized about these supplies.