A US national has been sentenced to more than five years behind bars on allegations that he worked to help North Korea bypass American sanctions, with the government stating he planned to fund and develop crypto infrastructure that could be used to evade the penalties.
Virgil Griffith, 39, was handed a 63-month sentence for the conspiracy charge, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday, noting that he pleaded guilty to traveling to North Korea to offer “instruction on how the DPRK could use blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to launder money” and avoid US sanctions.
The man was said to have provided the information during presentations for a crypto conference in Pyongyang in April 2019. He attended the event “even though the Department of State had denied Griffith permission to travel to the DPRK,” the government continued, adding that he was aware the talks would violate sanctions on North Korea.
“Griffith’s presentations at the DPRK Cryptocurrency Conference had been approved by DPRK officials and focused on, among other things, how blockchain technology such as ‘smart contracts’ could be used to benefit the DPRK, including in nuclear weapons negotiations with the United States,” the Justice Department said. It noted that he answered “specific questions” from audience members and “individuals whom Griffith understood worked for the North Korean government.”