By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – New Hampshire Free Staters who are supporters of the man they see as Bitcoin pioneer Ian Freeman, 44, of Keene, are calling on President-elect Donald Trump to free him from federal prison.

Freeman is now serving a federal prison term of eight years since his conviction for running an unlicensed Bitcoin exchange business.

Freeman has served a year in a minimum security federal facility in Ayer, Mass., according to his wife, Bonnie Freeman, who spoke at a press conference at the state Legislative Office Building Thursday.

Free State Project President Carla Gericke explained the Free State Project is a movement to concentrate libertarians in New Hampshire.

She is an author, activist and attorney who is also a supporter of New Hampshire seceding from the United States.

“I stand before you to discuss the grave injustices of three crypto pioneers,” listing Freeman, Ross Ulbricht, who is serving a life sentence for operating the dark market website Silk Road from 2011 until 2013, and Roger Ver, also known as “Bitcoin Jesus”, who has contested charges of tax evasion and alleged political retaliation. 

“Their cases exemplify how the (deep) State deploys false narratives, the big lie to tarnish reputations and suppress dissent. These cases also highlight systemic problems in the federal justice system such as overcharging, over sentencing, inconsistent enforcement, legal uncertainty and the stifling of innovation,” she said.

Gericke said Freeman was falsely labeled by the government a “fraudster and scammer” which the media “dutifully spread.”

She called on Trump to free Freeman as he has promised for Ulbricht when he takes office next week. 

On December 22, 2022, after a 10-day trial, United States Attorney Jane E. Young, announced that a federal jury convicted Freeman on all counts of money laundering, conspiracy to launder money, operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, and tax evasion totaling four counts.

According to a press release from her office at the time, trial exhibits and witness testimony showed Freeman laundered over $10 million in proceeds of romance scams and other internet frauds by exchanging U.S. dollars for bitcoin. 

“By failing to register his business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network as required by law, disabling ‘know your customer’ features on his bitcoin kiosks, and ensuring that bitcoin customers did not tell him what they did with their bitcoin, among other things, Freeman created a business that catered to fraudsters. By charging exorbitant fees, Freeman made in excess of a million dollars,” the statement read.

It added that records indicated he and co-conspirators opened and operated accounts at financial institutions in the names of various churches and instructed Bitcoin customers, who were often victims of scams, to lie to the financial institutions and describe their deposits as church donations. 

From 2016 to 2019, he paid no taxes, and concealed his income from the Internal Revenue Service, the statement read.   

Bitcoin is a decentralized form of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a digital form of currency that is transferred peer-to-peer without federal regulation through the internet. 

Trump is seen by some as a supporter and has made indications that he will pardon at least one man who is federally incarcerated. 

Also echoing that call was Eric Brakey who is the current executive director of the Free State Project though he said he was speaking as an individual.

How can you accuse Ian Freeman of “conspiracy to commit money laundering” for running a BTC kiosk/atm, but no bank managers are being similarly accused and harassed? This type of selective enforcement is just another corrupt lawfare tactic that erodes public trust and undermines the rule of law, Gericke said.

“And, on top of that, the actions of the DOJ is killing innovation in the crypto space because… 

“The lack of clear regulatory guidelines creates an impossible environment for innovation….”

Directing her words to Trump she said, “I stand here today to call for clemency.

“You have personally experienced the weaponization of the legal system—lawfare—used to undermine and discredit. 

“We’re here today to stand for truth, justice, transparency, free speech, innovation and the principles upon which our nation was founded,” she said.

But U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire Young said upon Freeman’s conviction that “the culture of scamming through the internet has become a pervasive societal problem.  These scammers get away with their crimes, which often victimize some of our most vulnerable citizens, by hiding their tracks, including the money trail,” said Young after Freeman’s conviction. 

“Money launderers such as Ian Freeman are the ones who help hide the money for these scammers.  Today’s swift verdict sends a strong message that this type of money laundering will not be tolerated. Stopping scammers by disrupting their methods for hiding their tracks is an important federal objective. This prosecution is an important step in meeting that objective.”

The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and the Department of Justice, Tax Division, provided substantial assistance in the case.

Young was tapped by the Democratic Biden Administration in 2022 as U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire but with the change in Administration to Trump, she has announced plans to resign on Jan. 17.

One of the victims described herself as a lonely widow who got scammed by a man she met on a dating site. At his instruction, she sent $300,000 to Freeman, wiping out her life’s savings. Another woman told a similar story of taking out three loans and selling her late husband’s truck to send money to the man who duped her.

Free markets and criminal reform were the backbone of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. With Trump on the verge of assuming presidential powers, many groups are urging him to act swiftly on his promises by addressing cases like Freeman’s.

They maintain Freeman was unjustly persecuted and should have remained a free man.

Bonnie Freeman said her husband, whom she sees frequently, is doing well at “the lowest of the lowest of security,” and staying busy and hopeful. He is teaching others to get their GED, she said and is “staying busy.”