Long heard case of Virgil Griffth, known as the prominent Ethereum developer, has taken a potential last curve with sentencing punishment.
Finally, Virgil Griffth was found guilty and sentenced to prison and a fine for violating the rules by New York Court on Tuesday. Former Ethereum developer would have to spend at least 63 months in jail along with paying a fine of $100,000. Griffith has been accused of violating international sanctions against North Korea. He made a trip in April 2019 to the Hermit Kingdom to speak at a crypto conference. Later the same year, in November, he got arrested.
While speaking at the conference, a former Ethereum developer explained how blockchain technology could be used for money laundering in order to bypass the sanctions and how it could be beneficial for the country to negotiate with the US regarding nuclear arms negotiations.
The law that Griffth violated and was found guilty of was considered a violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which could carry out a sentence of a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment. However, prosecutors of the developer reduced his sentence to between 63 months to 78 months after he pleaded guilty.
In September, in his guilty plea, Griffith confessed to one charge of conspiracy for violating international sanctions law against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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According to several reports citing the United Nations, DPRK, the official name of North Korea, has been funding its ballistic and nuclear missile programs allegedly with proceeds from crypto exchanges cyberattacks. Chainalysis, a prominent blockchain forensic firm, has stated that hackers from North Korea stole a significant amount of crypto worth $400 million in 2021.
Many people, including several influential personalities like Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and others, asked for mercy in the court regarding the sentence for Virgil Griffth. They outlined the personality and behaviour of Griffth and how good a soul he is in person. He helped many people through tough times in their lives and even played a crucial role in developing the Ethereum network.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/04/13/ultimately-former-developer-at-ethereum-virgil-griffth-imprisoned-for-63-months/