Virgil Griffith, a former Ethereum developer has been sentenced to 63 months in prison after he admitted to assisting North Korea in a New York courtroom. He’s also been slammed with a $100,000 fine.
Last September, Griffith unexpectedly pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate penalty laws. This followed the denial of his motion to dismiss in January.
After traveling to North Korea and giving a talk at a local cryptocurrency conference that included government officials, the Ethereum developer was arrested by US authorities in November 2019. The thrust of Griffith’s lecture was on how Kim Jong-regime un’s may get around US sanctions. His defense team failed to persuade the court that his cryptocurrency discussion was protected by the First Amendment and that the developer was simply sharing publicly available information with the DPRK.
In 2017, the United States prohibited Americans from visiting North Korea. Griffith’s request to attend a blockchain conference held by the “hermit kingdom” was denied by the State Department, but the Ethereum developer was able to fly there via China.
Griffith also attempted to persuade other Americans to join him at the conference. He was accused of endangering the United States’ national security.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin separated himself and the Ethereum Foundation from the ill-fated trip, stressing that many people advised him against taking the perilous journey. Despite this, Buterin signed a petition in support of Griffith, which received little attention.
Griffith faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but he escaped the harsh sentence by agreeing to a plea deal rather than risk a jury trial.
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