3 people who can really pardon samurai developers

Samurai Wallet co-founder Keon Rodriguez hopes to secure a presidential pardon to avoid an impending five-year prison sentence, but there are three people besides Donald Trump he may need to persuade.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty in July to operating an unlicensed money transfer business and was sentenced last month. “I understand the gravity of my crime,” he admitted to the judge.

Since then, he has received significant support online, most notably from 256 Foundation co-founder and X-user “Econo Alchemist,” who has launched a petition and appeals for donations to help Rodriguez and Samurai co-founder William Lonergan Hill.

The petition has garnered more than 7,200 signatures since it was launched on November 11th, and has received support from Bitcoin Magazine, Wendy O, and more.

But despite this widespread outpouring of support, it remains to be seen whether Rodriguez, 37, and Hill, 67, will have their sentences reversed by the president.

The scary thing is that President Trump has no idea who he is pardoning.

For example, when a 60 Minutes newscaster asked him about the richest and most influential crypto criminal he has ever pardoned, Binance founder Chao Changpeng (CZ), Trump admitted, “I don’t know who he is.”

He repeated, “Here’s the problem, but I’m too busy to know anything about it.”

Read more: What to do when using Samourai Wallet

Three people recommended for samurai wallet pardon

Trump, like other U.S. presidents, sometimes outsources pardon investigations to third parties.

Three of his favorite people to outsource this job to are the U.S. Attorney General pam bondiBaker Hostetler Attorney Teresa Goody Guillenand Trump’s own personal friend chess mcdowell.

Bondi is the most influential of the three due to his cabinet position. She is also the top official at the U.S. Department of Justice who secured Rodriguez’s conviction as a plaintiff.

At the press conference, President Trump gave verbal instructions to Bondi. to investigate Rodriguez’s case after a reporter asked about a possible pardon for the Samurai Wallet developer.

Another person Rodriguez will probably need to convince is Goody Guillen.

She was instrumental in recommending a pardon for Mr. CZ, who hired her in February to focus on the presidential pardon effort. The effort was successful by October.

Goody Gillen also heads Trump’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency project.

Kionne Rodriguez inmate records as of December 16, 2025. Source: U.S. Bureau of Prisons

Finally, the man with the experience of recommending the pardons that Trump actually signed is McDowell, a wealthy lobbyist with few qualifications other than hunting big game and enjoying a friendship with Trump.

Binance paid McDowell’s company, Checkmate Government Relations, $450,000 in the third quarter of 2025 for “executive relief” and other work. CZ received an amnesty during that engagement.

Rodriguez is not currently incarcerated, but is scheduled to begin his sentence on Friday, December 19, 2025. His sentence is final and binding, and his only hope of escape from prison is a pardon.