Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith faces up to 63 months in prison and a $ 100,000 fine for helping the North Korean administration evade U.S. sanctions on the use of cryptocurrencies.
Here are the details and timeline of the crimes committed by Griffith:
This individual attended a cryptocurrency talk program in Pyongyang in April 2019
In November, Griffith was arrested on two charges:
Conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
Teach North Korea how to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent US sanctions
Apparently Griffith did not get permission from the US government to visit Pyongyang because he had a high technical knowledge in crypto and was seen to have the potential to help the communist country.
Griffith pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in a confession agreement with federal prosecutors.
The prison sentence was reduced to 63 to 78 months (around 5-6 years) despite the maximum sentence being up to 20 years.
According to the judge handling the case, Griffith wanted to be a "crypto hero", praised by many for his courage and nobility in sharing crypto knowledge in North Korea: "He is willing to do anything to get attention,"
Griffith also has two test -based personality disorders in prison, Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD).
He was reprimanded by the court for supporting the communist country and was seen wearing traditional North Korean clothing, standing in front of a blackboard that read - "No sanctions!"
For the record, since 2020, the communist country has shown its fangs in hacking activities with a record of cryptocurrency theft as of January 2022 of RM 1.6 billion!
