Roman Storm’s legal team and US prosecutors have agreed to extend procedural deadlines that could affect retrying the Tornado Cash co-founder on conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions.
In a Monday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Judge Katherine Failla approved a schedule agreed upon by Storm’s lawyers and the US government that will push the start of any potential retrial.
Though prosecutors did not suggest whether they intended to retry Storm on the two felony charges, any scheduling on the matter would likely be pushed to later in 2025 beyond the 70-day deadline following “the conclusion of the initial trial.”
“The Court finds that the ends of justice would be served by excluding time from now until December 18, 2025, and that allowing the defense time to consider and prepare post-trial motions would outweigh the interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy retrial,” said Failla.
Tuesday filing in the Roman Storm case. Source: SDNY
On Aug. 6, a jury found Storm guilty of one count of conspiracy to run an unlicensed money business related to his role at Tornado Cash — one of the three felony charges he had been facing in court. The jury was unable to reach a decision on the remaining charges after days of deliberation.
Storm is expected to be sentenced on the single count soon, but no hearing has been scheduled as of Tuesday.
Related: The jury’s journey to the Roman Storm verdict
Tornado Cash developers are still under scrutiny
Storm was indicted in the US in August 2023 for money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions. He pleaded not guilty and has been free on bail since his arraignment.
The other two Tornado Cash co-founders, Alexey Pertsey and Roman Semenov, are in legal jeopardy similar to Storm.
Semenov was indicted in SDNY along with Storm, but remained at large at the time of publication. Pertsev was found guilty of money laundering in the Netherlands in 2024 and sentenced to more than five years in prison. He is appealing the decision.
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