William Lonergan Hill

Federal — Southern District of New York

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SENTENCE

4 years federal prison, 3 years supervised release, $250,000 fine, forfeiture of $6.3 million (shared with co-defendant Rodriguez), forfeiture money judgment of $237,832,360.55

CHARGES

Conspiracy to commit money laundering (dismissed as part of plea)

TAKE ACTION

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THEIR STORY

William Lonergan Hill was born around 1958 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. He later lived in Paris, France, and settled in Lisbon, Portugal, with his wife. He attended the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts and built a career as a software developer. He served as CTO at Soie LLC and was a director of Katana Cryptographic LTD alongside co-founder Rodriguez.

In 2015, Hill and Rodriguez began developing Samourai Wallet. Hill was the quieter technical architect where Rodriguez was the public voice. The wallet was non-custodial — users maintained full control of their own private keys and funds at all times.

Samourai’s Whirlpool and Ricochet features processed over 80,000 Bitcoin. Prosecutors identified approximately $237 million as criminal proceeds. Total fees earned over nine years were approximately $4.5 million.

On April 24, 2024, Hill was arrested at his home in Lisbon by Portuguese police cooperating with the FBI. He was extradited and released on $4.4 million bail pledged by his family. Both defendants initially pleaded not guilty.

A key controversy emerged when the defense accused prosecutors of withholding FinCEN guidance confirming non-custodial wallets were not money transmitters. FinCEN’s 2019 guidance explicitly said so. When asked directly, FinCEN said no. The prosecution moved forward regardless.

In July 2025, Hill pleaded guilty to the transmission count. The laundering charge was dismissed. On November 19, 2025, he was sentenced to four years plus three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Bipartisan Senators condemned the prosecution. The Cato Institute warned of a chilling effect on developers. Within weeks of Hill’s arrest, competing privacy wallets fled the U.S. market. In September 2024, independent developers released Ashigaru — built from Samourai’s code — ensuring the tools Hill built would survive his imprisonment.

WHY THEY DESERVE A PARDON

William Lonergan Hill is a 67-year-old software developer serving 4 years in federal prison for writing code. He co-created Samourai Wallet, a non-custodial Bitcoin wallet that was available on Google Play for nearly nine years. The wallet never held, controlled, or transmitted anyone’s Bitcoin. It was software — lines of code that users downloaded and ran on their own phones to manage their own money. Hill grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and spent much of his adult life in Paris and later Portugal. He attended the French National Conservatory of Arts and worked as a developer across multiple ventures. He was 65 years old when FBI agents coordinated with Portuguese police to arrest him at his home in Lisbon on April 24, 2024. He was extradited to the United States and released on bail backed by approximately $4.4 million in assets pledged by his wife and family. FinCEN’s own 2019 guidance stated that non-custodial wallet providers are not money transmitters. When prosecutors asked FinCEN directly, the answer was no. The prosecution proceeded anyway. Hill’s defense accused prosecutors of withholding this exculpatory guidance. Hill pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The laundering charge was dismissed. He was sentenced November 19, 2025, to four years — one year less than co-defendant Rodriguez. In December 2025, President Trump indicated he would “look at” co-defendant Rodriguez’s case. No similar statement has been made regarding Hill, though both were prosecuted for the same conduct, convicted under the same statute, and sentenced by the same judge. William Lonergan Hill, a 67-year-old developer who grew up in Brooklyn and lived quietly in Lisbon, is serving four years for the code he wrote.