The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has pledged to donate up to $500,000 to Tornado Cash’s co-founder, Roman Storm, to support his ongoing legal defense. This follows the recent trial verdict that found Storm guilty of one of three charges.
In an X post, the fundraiser’s team explained that they “will need these funds and more to continue the fight for Roman at the trial court and on appeal. The outcome of these proceedings will set major precedent for developers worldwide.”
Storm was detained and indicted following the Tornado Cash sanctions and charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit sanctions violations, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.
Nonetheless, the jury found the Tornado Cash co-founder guilty of the remaining charge: conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, which could lead to a 5-year conviction for the crypto mixer’s co-founder.
As the Free Pertsev and Storm team detailed, “Roman risks up to 5 years of jail time if he doesn’t win the appeal, and potentially decades if the government decides to retry Counts 1 & 3.”
As the former prosecutors explained, if the Judge rules that the conviction was proper on the conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business count, they could proceed to sentencing. Additionally, the government could retry Storm on the two counts for which the jury was hung.
So, it is possible that they could be retried, or the judge could say, I think the conviction was inappropriate, and could say that on the counts that the jury hung on, those should have been acquitted.
