Virgil Griffith an Ethereum Foundation cryptocurrency scientist was sentenced to 63 months in prison and also a $100,000 fine for helping North Korea evade U.S. sanctions
Virgil Griffith Gets 63 Months In Prison, $100,000 Fine
In September, just before his trial, Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum Foundation cryptocurrency scientist, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In Manhattan, U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel sentenced him on Tuesday.
Former Ethereum developer Griffith, who admitted to assisting North Korea, was sentenced to 63 months in prison in a New York courtroom. On top of that, he was hit with a $100,000 fine.
Virgil Griffith Past Cases With United State
Virgil Griffith, 39, went to a blockchain and cryptocurrency conference in Pyongyang in 2019, despite specific State Department warnings.
In 2017, the United States prohibited Americans from visiting North Korea. Virgil Griffith’s request to attend a blockchain conference hosted by the “hermit kingdom” was denied by the State Department, but the Ethereum developer managed to get there via China.
Griffith also attempted to persuade other Americans to join him at the conference. He was accused of endangering US national security.
In November 2019, he was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of providing technical blockchain information to dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime, which prosecutors said could be used to help the country launder money and avoid sanctions.
While Virgil Griffith faced up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors agreed in a plea deal to seek no more than 6 1/2 years. Griffith has been detained in federal custody since July, when Castel revoked his bail, claiming that a rise in the value of his cryptocurrency holdings provided him with the means and incentive to flee.
Virgil Griffith was the subject of a 2008 New York Times Magazine profile that dubbed him the “Internet Man of Mystery” and described him as a “cult hacker.”
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin distanced himself and the Ethereum Foundation from the ill-fated trip, stating that many people advised him against the risky endeavor. Nonetheless, Buterin signed a petition in support of Griffth, which received little attention.
The case is United States v. Griffith, 20-cr-00015, United States District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
