The Ethereum Research Scientist, Virgil Griffith, who was taken under arrest in Los Angeles a week ago for purportedly breaching the U.S. sanctions laws, would be discharged from jail pending trial, as per his defense attorney Brian Klein.
Recently, Klein announced in a tweet that he presently represents Griffith, who “looks forward to his day in court, when the full story can come out.”
I now represent Virgil Griffith and am very pleased that today the judge found that he should be released from jail pending trial. We dispute the untested allegations in the criminal complaint, and Virgil looks forward to his day in court, when the full story can come out.
— Brian Klein (@brianeklein) December 3, 2019
Further, Klein has represented various top-level people in the cybersecurity and cryptocurrency sectors, which includes Security researcher Marcus Hutchins and bitcoin businessman Charlie Shrem.
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Furthermore, various Ethereum developers, including Vitalik Buterin, in his tweet, have backed support for Griffith and started a petition named “Free Virgil.”
As indicated by a source, Griffith’s judge decided that he would be discharged after specific conditions were met. According to a source, prosecutors were allowed a 7-day stay for an appeal.
Moreover, Griffith was charged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Office of the U.S. Lawyer for the Southern District of New York for supposedly helping North Korea in breaching the U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York stated recently that he had been implicated with “violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by traveling to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) in order to deliver a presentation and technical advice on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to evade sanctions.”
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As indicated in the complaint, Griffith had requested and was denied consent to make a trip to North Korea to give the presentation, titled “Blockchain and Peace.” Further, the complaint stated that Griffith eventually been making plans to expedite the exchange of Cryptocurrency-1 involving the DPRK and South Korea, regardless of realizing this would breach U.S. sanctions against the DPRK.
