U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla has indicated that the 2022 U.S. Treasury sanctions against Tornado Cash will likely be barred from discussion at the upcoming criminal trial of Roman Storm, the co-founder and developer of the crypto mixing service.
As per Inner City Press’ reporting of a pretrial hearing, Judge Failla said she was “inclined to keep out the August 2022 sanctions, since they were later withdrawn,” referencing the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions that were repealed in March after a federal court order.
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She emphasized that since the sanctions were ultimately withdrawn, it would be unfair to suggest Storm had “consciousness of guilt for something he was not ultimately guilty of.”
While prosecutors will not be allowed to mention the sanctions and related civil court decisions, the Judge said she was unlikely to grant a motion that prevents references to North Korea or the Lazarus Group, which are central to the prosecution’s allegations of money laundering and sanctions violations.
Storm’s criminal trial is scheduled to begin on July 14 in New York.