US crypto researcher who aided DPRK says he acted ‘in the interest of peace’ | NK News
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December 24, 2024

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US crypto researcher who aided DPRK says he acted ‘in the interest of peace’

Lawyers for Virgil Griffith say he had borderline ‘obsession’ with DPRK as they petition for lenient sentence

An American cryptocurrency researcher who pled guilty to helping North Korea evade sanctions has asked a U.S. district court for leniency, saying he acted “in the interest of peace” for a country he believed would “soon be swept into the dustbin of history.”

According to newly unsealed court documents from the New York Southern District Court, lawyers for Virgil Griffith, a blockchain researcher who spoke at a cryptocurrency conference in Pyongyang in April 2019, argued that a 24-month sentence and community service were commensurate with his crimes.

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