Crypto24 August, 20263 min read
Judge Katherine Polk Failla Adjourns Roman Storm’s Tornado Cash Retrial To April 26, 2027
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Retrial rescheduled to April 26, 2027, by Judge Katherine Polk Failla. Move follows Storm's pending motion for acquittal and related continuance request.
Retrial pushed to 2027
A U.S. federal judge adjourned Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm’s retrial to April 26, 2027, extending the proceedings by more than six months beyond the October 2026 timetable. Judge Katherine Polk Failla entered the order Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, setting the retrial for April 26, 2027 at the Thurgood Marshall Courthouse and amending the pretrial schedule to run from expert disclosures on February 5, 2027 to a final conference on April 20. The delay came “in light of” Storm’s pending motion for acquittal and his related request to continue the retrial, with Failla excluding the intervening time under the Speedy Trial Act.
Storm was convicted in August 2025 of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and the jury split on money laundering and sanctions violation charges that prosecutors intended to retry. The two counts the government sought to retry carry a combined maximum of 40 years, while the unlicensed money transmitting conviction carries up to five years.
Defense and prosecutors clash
Storm’s legal team sought the postponement, asking for a delay on Aug. 3 and arguing they needed at least 90 days after the court rules on the acquittal motion to prepare for another trial.
According to the filing described by TradingView, prosecutors opposed an adjournment and had asked in March for a retrial beginning October 5 or 12.
Storm said on X, “My acquittal motion is still sitting there, undecided,” and he added, “I honestly don’t know when this ends.”
In Decrypt’s account, Failla cited Storm’s pending motion for acquittal and “his related request to continue the retrial to a date in late April 2027,” recording that the later date came from the defense.
Decrypt also reports that Storm marked the order with a tweet arguing the case is aimed at the wider industry, writing, “A jury deadlocked on the two most serious counts against me. And still SDNY won't stop,” and “It's about setting an example.”
What’s at stake next
The retrial will focus on two counts left unresolved after the first Manhattan jury convicted Storm on one count and deadlocked on the money laundering and sanctions conspiracy charges. Crypto News describes that each of the two remaining counts carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, while the first conviction for conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business carries a maximum sentence of five years. Decrypt adds that Storm’s motion for acquittal remains undecided, and that the order amends the pretrial schedule so expert disclosures begin on February 5, 2027 and a final conference is set for April 20.
“Each carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.”
Beyond the courtroom calendar, Decrypt says the case has drawn attention from privacy advocates including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who backed Storm in January and described himself as “an active user of privacy tools, including those developed by Roman.” Decrypt also notes that the Justice Department guidance cited by the case includes a statement by then-acting head of the criminal division Matthew Galeotti that prosecutors would no longer approve charges under the statute Storm was convicted on where software is decentralized and non-custodial.