Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of the now-defunct Bitcoin privacy wallet Samourai Wallet, has issued an urgent plea from federal prison for donations to cover more than $2 million in accumulated legal debt and a $250,000 court fine. In a post on X dated May 6, 2026, Rodriguez described being “financially wiped out” after a long legal battle and said his family has exhausted all options.
Rodriguez, 37, is five months into a 60-month sentence at FPC Morgantown in West Virginia. He and co-founder William Lonergan Hill — who received a four-year sentence — pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, forfeiting approximately $6.37 million in fees earned from Samourai’s operations. U.S. authorities arrested them in April 2024 on charges of money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitter. Initially pleading not guilty, the pair accepted a plea deal to avoid a trial that Rodriguez said could have resulted in far longer incarceration and millions more in legal costs.
“We are entirely out of options,” Rodriguez wrote. “We desperately need your help. Now.” He revealed that daily calls and letters from lawyers demanding payment combined with pressure from the Department of Justice to begin repaying the $250,000 fine have made the situation untenable. The post included a Bitcoin donation address, which had received around $65,000 at the time of writing.
Rodriguez also addressed fading hopes for a presidential pardon. President Donald Trump indicated in December 2025 that he would review the case, sparking optimism similar to pardons granted to Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and Silk Road’s Ross Ulbricht. However, the Bitcoin 2026 conference passed without action, and a pardon petition with nearly 16,000 signatures has not moved. “I am simply a federal prisoner without money, power, or influence,” Rodriguez stated, expecting to serve his full term.
The Samourai case, which involved over 100,000 users and more than $2 billion in Bitcoin transactions since 2015, continues to fuel debate over developer liability for non-custodial privacy tools. The Cato Institute warned the prosecution could chill innovation among privacy advocates and software developers. Rodriguez himself cautioned that Bitcoin miners could become the next targets of such enforcement. The original Samourai code lives on through the Ashigaru fork developed by independent contributors.
