SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Sept 28 – Jonathan Spalletta
was arrested and arraigned on
March 30 for two hacks of
Uranium Finance in April 2021.
The second hack,
the indictment alleges, netted
$53 million which it says
Spalletta "laundered including
through the cryptocurrency
mixer Tornado Cash in order to
buy Pokemon cards, antique
Roman coins and a piece of the
Wright brothers' original
plane that Neil Armstrong had
taken to the moon.
To the
moon! [Echoes of SafeMoon,
prosecuted in
EDNY] Inner City
Press was in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York
Magistrates Court when
Spalletta was presented and
sent up to Judge Jed S.
Rakoff's courtroom for
arraignment.
On September 11,
before a September 28 trial,
Judge Rakoff ruled that the
US' Daubert motion is due
September 14 with Defendant's
opposition due September 23.
On September 28
the trial began, with (very)
short jury selection, openings
and a witness, which Inner
City Press live tweeted here:
AUSA:
Let them argue why someone might
want to use Tornado Cash
Judge
Rakoff:
I am unlikely to let in the
argument that this was an
inside job. OK, bring the
defendant in, put your
witness on the stand then
bring in the jury
[Couple with white canes
come in and sit in front row
of gallery, prosecutors look
back at them]
Defense:
I'm
sorry, my client is in the
restroom.
Judge Rakoff: The greatest
judge on this court in the
history would bring in the
jury in now and let them
wait.. Oh, here he is.
[Voice changes] You just be
on time!
Spalletta: Yes, your Honor
[Jury enters]
[Amazing,
there
is a jury note - earliest
one ever]
Judge Rakoff: Will the
parties approach?
[Sidebar]
Judge
Rakoff:
So Juror 11, Jason New,
thanks for letting us know,
you are excused. Alternate
1, please step up.
Counsel: May we have another
sidebar?
Judge
Rakoff:
Ladies and gentlemen of the
jury, the reason we had to
excuse Juror Number 11 was
something he raised to me.
Did anyone have a discussion
with him? No? That resolves
the issue. Swear in the
witness.
It's Jason Rogers
AUSA:
Good afternoon Mr. Rodgers.
Where do you live?
Rodgers: Seoul, South Korea.
AUSA: What was Uranium
Finance?
Rodgers: A DEX, a
decentralized exchange.
AUSA: When did you invest it
it?
Judge: What is
cryptocurrency?
Rodgers: Digital currency
AUSA:
Your history?
Rodgers: I'm from Maryland,
I get to University of
Georgia for landscape
architecture. I worked in
that until 2008 when it
collapsed. I went to South
Korea to design an army
base.
AUSA: Why'd you get into
crypto?
Rodgers: To buy a house
With
jury out of room, Spalletta
confers with the couple with
canes in the front row, then
says loudly to one of his
two lawyers, "it doesn't
mean that everyone with
economic harm," then
quieter. Waiting for jury's
return
Jury's
back.
AUSA: Where were you, when
you saw your Uranium pools
drained?
Rodgers: In my office slash
bedroom. I saw it on my
computer.
AUSA: What did you do?
Rodgers: Tried to get my
crypto back from the pool,
but I couldn't. I tried many
many times
Cross
examination
Defense: How much did you
lose?
Rodgers: $2.7 million.
Defense: Where did the money
come from?
AUSA: Objection!
Judge: Ground?
AUSA: Relevance.
Judge: Sustained.
Rodgers:
The
reward that Uranium gave
made you almost an owner of
the site
Judge: What were the kinds
of crypto that you were
contributing?
Rodgers: USDC and another in
rads
Defense: What was the
volume?
Rodgers: I don't know.
Judge: His motive is not
relevant
The case is USA
v. Spalletta, 1:26-cr-118
(Rakoff)
***
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