Spalletta Convicted of Uranium Finance Hack After Two Hour Jury Deliberation in SDNY

Spalletta Convicted of Uranium Finance Hack After Two Hour Jury Deliberation in SDNY by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack SDNY COURTHOUSE, Oct 7 – Jonathan Spalletta was arrested and arraigned for two hacks of Uranium Finance in April 2021. On October 7, 2026 on the seventh day of a trial Inner City Press live tweeted, Spalletta was found guilty on both counts. His lead lawyer withdrew as the trial began, and Spalletta asked for an ex parte conference about his remaining lawyers just before closing arguments - an issue on appeal? More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here The second hack, the indictment alleges, netted $53 million which it says Spalletta "laundered including through the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash in order to buy Pokemon cards, antique Roman coins and a piece of the Wright brothers' original plane that Neil Armstrong had taken to the moon.   To the moon! [Echoes of SafeMoon, prosecuted in EDNY]   Inner City Press was in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrates Court when Spalletta was presented and sent up to Judge Jed S. Rakoff's courtroom for arraignment.  On September 11, before a September 28 trial, Judge Rakoff ruled that the US' Daubert motion is due September 14 with Defendant's opposition due September 23. On September 28 the trial began, with (very) short jury selection, openings and a witness, which Inner City Press live tweeted. On September 29 lead defense counsel Bell requested out, and got it. On September 30: Defense lawyer Sharma, now lead counsel: Mr. Pettyjohn, what does the ZK in ZK Snark stand for? Pettyjohn: Zero knowledge. Sharma: The flawed code of Uranium Finance allowed the exploit? Pettyjohn: The exploit made it flawed [?]  It continues Spalletta now with 3 lawyers beside him, all from the same firm (whose name partner is apparently in line to become US Ambassador to Egypt) AUSA: Do you see 3 lines of words - do they make sense in a sentence? Sharma: Objection! Calls for speculation!  Judge Rakoff: Overruled Witness: It's a seed phrase. AUSA: Special Agent Marshall, And this is the Uranium bug file? Special Agent: It is. AUSA: And another file named "Tornado"? Special Agent: Yes Cross Sharma: You had to try to get into an encrypted file? Special Agent: We used the passwords of the phone Sharma: But you have no idea why these files were there, just that they were that, right? Special Agent: Correct  [Now Spalletta leaning back and whispering to Sharma. After a time] Sharma: No further questions.    More on X for Subscribers here and Substack here. The case is USA v. Spalletta, 1:26-cr-118 (Rakoff) *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material / documents on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. And/or join on Substack here, for Extra like on X for Subscribers Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com