The Trial of Virgil Griffith: The Last Day
I wrote in Cointelegraph Magazine about how exactly the Federal Bureau of Investigation took down Virgil; also appeared on CoinDesk Television.
Virgil Griffith, the cryptocurrency expert who has pleaded guilty to helping North Korea violate sanctions, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison on Tuesday in New York court.
There's also a fine of $100,000 and three years of supervised release.
The sentence is on the low end of the range outlined in a plea deal Virgil had earlier taken for going to North Korea and giving a crypto talk.
I wrote in Cointelegraph Magazine about how exactly the Federal Bureau of Investigation took down Virgil in the days after North Korea — a crucial, illuminating period during which agents as much went after Griffith as he fell into their lap.
Almost immediately after returning to Singapore, Griffith went to the local U.S. embassy to talk about the trip with a special agent. Perhaps, in some way, he thought he was doing his government a favor by telling them all about the cloistered kingdom. Griffith did not expect that meeting to ripple throughout the U.S. government. Special Agent Brandon Cavanaugh of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s counterintelligence unit in New York was soon brought into the fold, and then the circle grew to three lawyers from the Justice Department plus Treasury Department attorneys.
I also appeared on CoinDesk Television to talk about the matter.
In Tuesday’s court session, Judge Kevin Castel referenced a doctor's report: Virgil has been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive and narcissistic personality disorders. Judge said Virgil was not ideologically motivated but rather wanted to be seen as a "crypto hero."
The fact that Virgil's remarks in North Korea comprise publicly available information — judge says "that's not a part of this case." The crime, the judge says, is also his "advocacy" of sanctions breaking and how he enabled others to do so.
The judge noted that Virgil immediately talked to American authorities after returning from North Korea: "This guy is willing to play both sides of the street as long as he is the centre of attention."
The judge considered the fact that Virgil co-operated and that he has already been thoroughly punished by the brutal conditions of the New York jails he's been held in. But the judge also said that he considered how Virgil had violated bail conditions — he wouldn't have been in detention otherwise.
The sentencing marks the end of the road for me, sort of. It’s the conclusion of a rather unexpected three-year journey.
There are lots of stuff in the works with respect to developing this story further, about which I will be in a better position to talk down the line. For now, it will be a while before there’s anything new from me on this matter.
Here is everything I’ve written about the whole affair:
North Korea diaries
My book Once a Bitcoin Miner: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West recounts the days in North Korea. It is excerpted in the Walrus and CoinDesk.
How the FBI took down Virgil Griffith
I wrote in Cointelegraph Magazine about how exactly the Federal Bureau of Investigation took down Virgil in the days after North Korea
The trial that never was
I wrote in the Financial Post a preview of the trial that everyone was expecting to happen that never did, what the unexpected guilty plea by Virgil symbolizes. In CoinDesk, I wrote about the possible reasoning for the plea.
The leadup to sentencing
I wrote in the Financial Post the revelation that the Ethereum Foundation was a lot more connected to the North Korea trip than it let on.