> The statute of limitation for wire fraud is 5 years. How did he get charged under that statute when he stole funds from Silk Road in 2012?
This is a very simplistic view and this mistake is made a lot. There are several reasons why the statute of limitations could either be longer than 5 years or not yet expired even though it is 5 years:
- Tolling. This is when the suspect exits your jurisdiction, preventing you from apprehending them. If the statute of limitations really is 5 years, and you leave the country 4 years after the act; even if you stay abroad for a year, or 5 years, or 20 years, the clock only resumes when you return. You can still be charged 24 years after committing the offense.
- Furtherance. Put simply, if you continue to engage in the activity, the statute of limitations is reset. For example, this article describes his repeated moving of the assets after the initial theft in order to avoid detection.
- Special Circumstances. In this case, there are exceptions that mean that the statute of limitations is not actually 5 years.
It's not clear which of these apply. I would definitely bet on option #2. If he spent any time outside of the country, also apply option #1. If any of the special circumstances defined in the law apply, also apply option #3.
It seemed to me that option #1 only applied if you were a fugitive and your whereabouts were unknown, not when you simply leave the state or country.
As to furtherance, I wonder how precise the definition of it is; is using proceeds of a crime, furtherance of a crime? Is obfuscating a crime, furtherance of a crime?
In regards to whether simply leaving the jurisdiction is grounds for tolling the statute of limitations, see 18 USC 3290, which is a one-sentence law reading:
No statute of limitations shall extend to any person fleeing from justice
It can be reasonably argued that leaving the country after having committed the offense is fleeing from justice. I'm not aware of any supreme court ruling on the matter though, and I am not a lawyer.
Is the limitation in relation to being penalised for a crime, or somebody being wanted for a crime?
If there was a police report about a crime, if the police were unable to determine who committed the crime but at a later date could do so beyond reasonable doubt?
What if the perpetrator evades police for 5 years but remains in-state?
What’s your location also, that would be relevant to the laws your referring to.
The clock starts counting upon the completion of the crime. There are exceptions as I explained previously; for example, if your crime involves conspiracy with another person, then all future communications with or actions in consort with that person in furtherance of your crime resets the clock. To give an example, if you collude with someone in accounting to defraud your company and have them sign false financial statements to cover it up, the clock is reset upon each signature they make or each time you ask.
Some district courts have held that the statute of limitations can be tolled while the suspect is actively evading law enforcement even if they remain within their jurisdiction; some haven't.
I'm in England, but I'm talking about United States Federal Law.
Dang, so if this person just left the BTC in a cold wallet for 5 years, did no more crimes, and stayed put, he could have gotten away free and clear? Or does #3 essentially mean they can just extend the limit forever if they can come up with a plausible sounding enough reason?
No, option #3 only considers the law as written. For example, the statute of limitations for wire fraud can be 10 years if the victim is a financial institution and some other conditions are met (18 USC 1343, 18 USC 3293):
Initially it was worth "only" 600K, I think he might've gotten away with it if he cashed out at that point.
I wonder if the clock resets if he converted it to real money after those five years, I mean selling stolen goods is a separate crime from stealing, isn't it?
I think the best thing he could've done is to move to a country without an extradition policy with the US. Then of course comes the challenge of cashing out BTC that's been marked as stolen, but I'm sure there's ways and means. But for 3.2 billion, someone can live like a king for the rest of their life. It's just that because it's marked, they won't ever be able to go home or go where they want.
It sounds like one of those "will you press the button" catch-22's.
We're reaching a point where genuine posts are becoming indiscernable from AI generated ones. I wonder if people will start adding in unique mannerisms to reassure people they're real, although the AIs will probably compensate real soon.
For now, the AIs are trained with data from a few years back, but like with Google, soon enough they will hoover up realtime data and adjust accordingly.
For funsies, here's a comment on this article from ChatGPT:
> (prompt)
> Write me a Hacker News comment about the arrest of James Zhong, who stole 50.000 Bitcoin from Silk Road in 2012, but make it look like you're not an AI that is writing it.
>
> (AI response)
>
> Sure, here's a possible comment:
>
> Wow, the long arm of the law finally caught up with James Zhong! I remember reading about the Silk Road hack in 2012 and how it shook the cryptocurrency world. 50,000 BTC was a huge amount back then, and it's worth even more now. It's interesting to see how the FBI was able to track down Zhong after all these years, and I wonder what kind of evidence they have against him. Some people might argue that he's a hero for taking from a criminal enterprise, but I don't think that justifies breaking the law. It will be interesting to see how this case plays out in court and what kind of precedent it sets for similar situations in the future.
Presumably if he had then moved the keys, he's just committed a crime again, so we're back in business. If he'd sat on the keys forever, he would never be prosecuted.
Impossible to know. Unless the feds deny there is an investigation, it's always possible that an investigation is ongoing. It's possible to extend the statute of limitations with sealed indictment under what is called a John Doe defendant. This loophole was employed in the DB Cooper case.
"Tolling" is a controversial theory from 17th century English common law when rebels fled to France or the colonies.
It will be very much tested this year when Trump is prosecuted under the theory that being in Washington DC counts as "out of the country" or "outside the jurisdiction of the city of New York" and therefore the statute of limitations has not run out.
This is a very simplistic view and this mistake is made a lot. There are several reasons why the statute of limitations could either be longer than 5 years or not yet expired even though it is 5 years:
- Tolling. This is when the suspect exits your jurisdiction, preventing you from apprehending them. If the statute of limitations really is 5 years, and you leave the country 4 years after the act; even if you stay abroad for a year, or 5 years, or 20 years, the clock only resumes when you return. You can still be charged 24 years after committing the offense.
- Furtherance. Put simply, if you continue to engage in the activity, the statute of limitations is reset. For example, this article describes his repeated moving of the assets after the initial theft in order to avoid detection.
- Special Circumstances. In this case, there are exceptions that mean that the statute of limitations is not actually 5 years.
It's not clear which of these apply. I would definitely bet on option #2. If he spent any time outside of the country, also apply option #1. If any of the special circumstances defined in the law apply, also apply option #3.