US President Donald Trump has announced plans to reconsider the case of convicted Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez, suggesting he may look into the possibility of a pardon.
Samourai Wallet’s co-founders, Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, were sentenced on November 19 to five and four years in prison, respectively, due to their roles in the cryptocurrency mixing service.
“I’ve heard about it, I’ll look at it,” Trump stated when queried about the situation at a press conference concerning the Mexican border at the White House on Monday.
“Alright, let’s take a look at it. You know, you’ll have to inform me. I’m not familiar with it, but we’ll investigate,” he added.
Privacy advocates and cryptocurrency users have consistently been supporting Rodriguez and Hill, along with Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, emphasizing that they shouldn’t be liable for the actions of third parties utilizing their software.
Samourai co-founder remarks, “noise is effective”
Rodriguez, who is set to begin serving his sentence this week, mentioned in an X post on Monday that the “ongoing noise” from supporters is making a difference. “Thank you to everyone urging Donald Trump to pardon Bill and me. Let’s finalize this.”
In a conversation with Bitcoin educator Natalie Brunell on Friday, Rodriguez expressed optimism about the prospect of receiving a pardon if the case were brought before Trump and key officials in the administration.
I appreciate @keonne tackling tough questions on the Samourai Wallet case. All topics were fair game.
Keonne is preparing to report to prison on December 19th, but there’s an active push to #PardonSamourai, and Keonne hopes President Trump hears his narrative.
If you care… pic.twitter.com/iXg3BXr8iq
— Natalie Brunell ⚡️ (@natbrunell) December 12, 2025
“Since President Trump has experienced a DOJ that was weaponized against him, I believe when he examines the facts presented, he will understand the situation clearly,” Rodriguez stated.
Standard appeal prospects are minimal
Rodriguez indicated that he believes he waived his right to appeal the sentence when he accepted the plea deal, adding that he’s not “100% sure about that, but from what I understand, an appeal seems quite unlikely.”
Initially, Rodriguez and Hill pleaded not guilty but subsequently decided to plead guilty to one charge of operating an illegal money transmitter in July.
They were facing a minimum of 25 years in prison for charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which has a maximum penalty of 20 years, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, which carries a potential five-year sentence.
Prior to the sentencing hearing, Rodriguez expressed regret over his guilty plea but feared the judge would restrict the use of critical evidence in his defense, such as receiving legal advice prior to the launch of Samourai Wallet.
Related: Following Samourai, DOJ’s theory on money transmitters now looms over crypto mixers
After reviewing the situation, he realized a “conviction means 25 years, even while appealing, you would still be in prison for five years waiting for your appeal, and the costs of that appeal would amount to another $7 million on top of the four and a half million already spent to reach this stage. So the figures just didn’t add up.”
Trump has pardoned Changpeng Zhao, Ross Ulbricht
Since assuming office, Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao in October, following his guilty plea in November 2023 for failing to maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering program at Binance, in violation of the Bank Secrecy Act.
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the now-defunct Silk Road darknet marketplace, was also granted a presidential pardon on his life sentence in January.
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