Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith is facing a $100,000 fine and five years in prison for assisting North Korea in benefiting from the use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain to circumvent sanctions.
The American developer violated regulations governing interactions between citizens of the United States and North Korea.
Kevin Castel, a judge in the Southern District of New York, issued the ruling on Tuesday, April 12.
The decision was made because the court concluded the developer willfully violated US sanctions and helped “educate people on how to evade sanctions.”
In September 2021, Virgil Griffith entered a guilty plea to the accusation of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. This regulation prohibits American citizens from engaging in business activities with North Korea without first obtaining permission from US authorities.
Griffith began breaking the law when he refused to obtain the appropriate permission from authorities to attend a blockchain conference in 2019.
During the conference, he demonstrated how cryptocurrencies could be used in money laundering schemes and to evade sanctions imposed by countries such as the United States.
Griffith’s defense team argued that he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), which caused him to be obsessed with North Korea.
Judge Castel does not believe Griffith was remorseful or acted inadvertently.
The judge remarked,
“The fact is, Virgil Griffith hoped to return home as a crypto hero, to be admired and praised for resisting government sanctions, for his fearlessness and his nobility.”
“There is an argument that Virgil Griffith is a kind and thoughtful man,” Castel said in court, recounting several instances when the developer chose to travel to a hostile country to discuss blockchain “at a great personal sacrifice to himself,” despite knowing he could very well face litigation upon his return.
“But those are not the facts,” Castel noted. “That is not what happened.”
“What you see here is an intentionality… and a desire to educate people on how to evade sanctions,” Castel added.
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