Samourai Developer and Bitcoin Privacy Activist Appears In Court Ahead of Bail Release

Today marked the first public court hearing in the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) case against Samourai Wallet developers William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez since May 28, 2024, when Rodriguez appeared in court for the first hearing on the case.

I attended the hearing for William Lonergan Hill (TDevD/@SamouraiDev) in the Southern District of New York on behalf of @BitcoinMagazine today.

Here's what I learned: #FreeSamourai #WhereIsTDevD #SamouraiWallet pic.twitter.com/VtZdQd4IJu

Hill appeared in the courtroom after his uncontested extradition from Lisbon, Portugal, where he currently resides.

The prosecution did most of the talking in the hearing.

It shared the following information:

• Hill had been arraigned the day before, on July 9, 2024
• It had seized 27 electronic devices from Hill in Portugal
• It will produce discovery to Hill once the FBI has extracted and reviewed the information on said devices
• It has already produced discovery to Rodriguez, Hill’s former partner at Samourai and co-defendant in the case
• Hill will be released on bail, though no dollar amount for the bail was mentioned

The main point that the defense, composed of attorneys Roger Burlingame and Jeffrey Brown, made in the hearing was that Hill waived his right to extradition before he was arraigned on extradition charges.

The first key term of Hill’s bail is that he will be permitted to live in Lisbon, Portugal as the case proceeds. Burlingame requested this in a letter he submitted to the court on July 3, 2024. Hill will have to return to New York when he’s required to be in court.

A second key term of Hill’s bail is that he will be required to wear an ankle bracelet while living in Portugal on bail. The prosecution noted that the FBI would monitor the ankle bracelet in a discussion between the prosecution and defense after the official hearing had ended.

The case will proceed on September 10, 2024 at 12:00 PM ET, rescheduled from September 4, 2024.

The prosecution said it plans to produce discovery by the next court date.