Virgil Griffith Won’t Be Getting Bail After The North Korea Arrest

Virgil Griffith, the Ethereum foundation researcher has been denied bail in New York after he was initially arrested in North Korea so now he will be appealing the action as we are reading further in the Ethereum news.

The chief public information officer for the US Attorney’s Office James Margolin stated:

 “Griffith was presented yesterday and ordered detained. He is appealing and there will be [a] hearing before Judge Broderick.’’

The U.S district court for the Southern District of New York decided to don’t give bail for Virgil Griffith according to a report from the Inner City Press. Griffith was initially arrested on November 28 for allegedly traveling to North Korea to educate the people on avoiding the sanctions imposed by the US by using blockchain and crypto technology. According to the state department’s allegations, Griffith’s actions breached the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

The charges against Griffith could end in giving him 20 years in a jail prison sentence. He allegedly disowned the status as an American national via text messages to members of his family which were later quoted by the US Attorney’s office according to the crypto media news who were by their own account alone with Virgil’s parents in the audience at the court appearance. Griffith’s texts also show that there was an included intent to facilitate money laundering activities in the country.

Griffith’s lawyer Buckley also provided inconsistent details in the pre-trial proceedings which showed that his client both owned and rented a dwelling in Puerto Rico by saying that cryptocurrency activities are increasing in the small island nation. His other lawyer Brian Klein didn’t comment on the developments.  Just as a reminder, The US Attorney’s office in Manhattan released the announcement about arresting the ETH researcher Virgil Griffith who is a US citizen. He provided the North Korean government with highly technical information knowing that it could be used for helping the country evade sanctions and to launder money. The announcement noted that Griffith’s actions jeopardized the measures that were imposed by the US congress as well as the US President in order to put pressure on North Korea’s dangerous regime.