On Dec. 6, 2022, the “Crypto Six” case will be heading to trial, and out of all six defendants, only Ian Freeman, co-host of the radio broadcast Free Talk Live, has not accepted a plea bargain. According to the most recent hearing, Freeman’s legal counsel filed a Daubert motion, which aims to exclude the government’s expert testimony, as it’s been argued that private firms and closed-source software used in blockchain analysis don’t meet the Daubert standards of admissible evidence.
Crypto 6 Trial Set to Begin December 6, Prosecutors Drop All Fraud-Related Charges
Roughly 20 months ago on March 16, 2021, federal agents raided the Free Talk Live studio, the Bitcoin Embassy and the Shire Free Church in Keene New Hampshire. At the time, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged six residents of New Hampshire with operating a cryptocurrency exchange business without proper permits. The DOJ “Crypto Six” indictment “alleges that the defendants knowingly operated crypto exchange businesses in violation of federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations.”
Since then out of all six individuals, Ian Freeman, co-host of the radio broadcast Free Talk Live and libertarian activist, is the only person that remains in the case. Freeman is taking the case to a jury and the trial begins on Dec. 6, 2022. Freeman told Bitcoin.com News this week that it was revealed prosecutors are dropping all fraud-related charges against Freeman prior to trial. He also said that jury selection will start on the sixth as well, and the trial will start immediately after jurors are selected, which is expected to take two weeks.
Freeman discussed the subject with Bitcoin.com News, noting that his legal team filed a Daubert motion to exclude testimony from the FBI’s top blockchain ‘expert’. He said that since the US government relies on private companies and closed-source software, it does not meet the Daubert standards of admissible evidence.
“The feds then scrambled to have the ‘expert’ re-do the analysis using the blockchain.com explorer, which they call ‘open source,’ even though it’s just open for public use, not open source,” Freeman said. “This is a tacit admission that they know Chainalysis’ findings would not pass legal muster and it would be denied as evidence in a trial,” he added.
The Free Talk Live co-host continued:
Furthermore, my lawyer questioned Erin Montgomery, the FBI’s top blockchain ‘expert’, and asked her to admit that she is not even a computer scientist. He has a liberal arts degree and admitted that anyone could do what he did, which disqualifies him as an ‘expert’. The prosecution would be prohibited from presenting him as an expert of any kind at the trial.
According to the web portal thecrypto6.com, supporters will be protesting outside the courthouse on Dec. 12, 2022. Mainstream media is anticipated to attend and Freeman told our newsdesk that the team is trying to get an audio feed of the trial online. “Presently, we are awaiting approval from the judge on that,” Freeman detailed.
