Keonne Rodriguez, Co-Founder of the defunct Bitcoin privacy platform Samourai Wallet, has issued a public appeal for financial support from prison, stating that he and his family are struggling under mounting legal debt following the federal crackdown on the platform.
Writing from FPC Morgantown prison in West Virginia, Rodriguez expressed a somber realization that the political momentum for their release has stalled following the conclusion of the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas.
“I am simply a federal prisoner without money, power, or influence, and I will serve my full sentence,” Rodriguez wrote. “It will be years before I can even attempt to rebuild my life.”
The federal battle
The appeal follows the November 2025 sentencing of Rodriguez and CTO William Lonergan Hill. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the SDNY alleged the pair knowingly operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business, facilitating the movement of $237 million in criminal proceeds via their “Whirlpool” mixing service and “Ricochet” hopping tool.
Federal prosecutors alleged the platform knowingly transmitted more than $237 million in criminal proceeds through its privacy-focused Bitcoin mixing infrastructure.
The case became one of the most prominent legal actions against crypto privacy services in the United States.
Millions in debt and court fines
Rodriguez revealed that he and his wife, Lauren, are now facing more than $2 million in legal debt, alongside $250,000 fines each imposed by the court.
He stated that lawyers continue demanding payment while the Department of Justice (DOJ) has also begun seeking repayment obligations. “Things are dire, and we need your help,” Rodriguez said. “We have to get this albatross from around our neck.”
In his statement, Rodriguez defended the work carried out by Samourai Wallet over the past decade, arguing that developers are being punished for creating open-source Bitcoin privacy software. “For 10 years Bill and I built and published open source code and tools for Bitcoin users,” he wrote. “Those same tools and code are what the government says were criminal.”
Samourai Wallet became known within the Bitcoin ecosystem for tools designed to enhance transaction privacy and reduce blockchain traceability.
Rodriguez emphasized that while the software continues to exist online, its creators have faced prison sentences and financial devastation.
Crypto privacy debate intensifies
The Samourai case remains a flashpoint for the “Privacy vs. Compliance” debate. While the administration has embraced Bitcoin as a Strategic Reserve asset in 2026, it has simultaneously tightened the noose on anonymity-enhancing technologies (AETs).
At the same time, privacy advocates within the Bitcoin community continue to argue that such technologies are essential for financial freedom and decentralized open-source development. Many have also argued that the imprisonment of Rodriguez and Hill sends a chilling message to developers worldwide: building tools that the government finds “inconvenient” can result in life-altering financial and physical detention.
As of May 7, a community-led petition for their pardon has reached nearly 16,000 signatures, but for Rodriguez, the focus has shifted from freedom back to basic survival for his family.
Also read: ‘GothFerrari’ Sentenced to 78 Months in Prison Over $250M Crypto Theft Scheme
