U.S. prosecutors are asking a federal judge to set an October date for a retrial on two pending criminal counts against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict at an initial hearing, according to a letter filed Monday in the Southern District of New York.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton asked for an immediate date to “avoid further unnecessary delay,” even though Storm, who is free on bail, has a pending motion for acquittal. Oral arguments on the motion are scheduled for April 9.
Storm is the co-founder of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer designed to obscure the origin and destination of blockchain transactions. In August, a jury convicted Storm of one count related to operating an unlicensed money transfer business but failed to agree on a verdict on two other charges, leaving unresolved the issue of alleged violations of money laundering sanctions laws. He is currently free on bail pending further proceedings.
Storm criticized the planned retrial in an X post on Tuesday, saying the jury’s split decision reflected the uncertainty of the government’s case.
“The jury of 12 Americans heard evidence for four weeks and reached a deadlock: no verdict on money laundering and no verdict on sanctions violations,” Storm wrote. “The government’s response? Try again to criminalize writing code.”
Storm also pointed to a U.S. Treasury Department report that acknowledged that mixing services like Tornado Cash can serve legitimate purposes on public blockchains. The report comes after years of pushback against cryptocurrency mixers.
Defense attorneys told prosecutors it would be premature to set a trial date before the April motion is resolved.
