Cryptocurrency Expert Sentenced for Conspiring to Help North Korea Evade Sanctions

Virgil Griffith, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to 63 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to aid North Korea in evading U.S. sanctions via cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. Griffith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Griffith is a cryptocurrency expert who began in 2018 to provide services to individuals to develop a cryptocurrency infrastructure in North Korean. The U.S. Attorney's Office said Griffith knew the North Korean regime could use this infrastructure to evade U.S. sanctions. Griffith visited North Korea in 2019 to give a presentation on cryptocurrency despite the State Department having denied him permission to travel to the country. The presentation detailed steps to evade U.S. sanctions via blockchain and cryptocurrency, the U.S. Attorney's Office said April 12.

Griffith was sentenced to the 63 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, in addition to a $100,000 fine for the conspiracy charges. “There is no question North Korea poses a national security threat to our nation, and the regime has shown time and again it will stop at nothing to ignore our laws for its own benefit," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. "Mr. Griffith admitted in court he took actions to evade sanctions, which are in place to prevent [North Korea] from building a nuclear weapon. Justice has been served with the sentence handed down today.”