headline, DOJ seeks October retrial for Tornado Cash Dev, Roman Storm.
Published at 1.37 pm, March 10, 2026, US Attorney Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the SEC
and head of the Southern District of New York, has requested a retrial of Tornado Cash developer
Roman Storm on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and evade sanctions.
The requested date for the retrial is October 5 to 12, 2026. Clayton filed a two-page letter
confirming his prosecution is willing to bring Count 1 and Count 3 of the original indictment
back before a new jury. Count 1 was a conspiracy to commit money laundering. Here, the US government
alleged Storm knowingly helped criminals conceal over $1 billion in stolen crypto through Tornado
Cash, including hundreds of millions from a Ronin hack involving North Korea's Lazarus group.
Although not up for jury retrial, Count 2 involves a conspiracy to operate an unlicensed
money transmitting business. A Manhattan jury convicted Storm in August 2025 on Count 2.
However, Storm filed a post-trial motion under Criminal Rule 29, which is due for a court to
rule sometime soon, even as early as April 9, 2026. Storm hopes to gain acquittal on Count 2
on a legal technicality. A Rule 29 motion asks a judge to declare that trial evidence was legally
insufficient. Legal sufficiency of evidence is a constitutional minimum for sustaining a conviction.
The test for legal sufficiency is whether a rational trial of fact found the essential
elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Rule 29 acquittals are rare, but possible.
Also up for retrial, Count 3 involved a conspiracy to violate sanctions,
specifically prosecutors claimed Storm kept operating Tornado Cash after the US Treasury
sanctioned the protocol in August 2022. Read more. What does Roman Storm's guilty verdict
mean for the wider DeFi sector? After five days of deliberation, jurors deadlocked on the
money laundering in sanctions counts. As a result, the case was a partial mistrial.
Storm's attorney Brian Klein said after the first trial that he expected full vindication.
The defense has continued to fight on First Amendment, venue, and sufficiency of evidence grounds.
Storm remains free on a $2 million bail, but April and October will be critical months.
For anybody wanting to help him out, he's currently asking for donations to fund his legal
battle. Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Proto's Leaks. For more informed news and
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