The US just charged @virgilgr with trying to help North Korea evade sanctions. Maximum sentence is 20 years. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/manhattan-us-attorney-announces-arrest-united-states-citizen-assisting-north-korea

I'm no lawyer, but it strikes me that there must be plenty of precedent for attending scientific conferences across sanction lines. All through the Cold War, to physics conferences prior to and during WW2.

Explicitly saying that you're there to teach people how to evade sanctions is poking a beehive with a stick. The bees will not understand the full context of your words. That doesn't excuse the bees for being overzealous, but it also wasn't wise to mention these words.

There's also the old adage about "don't ever voluntarily agree to a full search, real or digital." Just don't. Whether it's your person or phone. There's nothing that can come out of it other than a paragraph of your own words to be used against you in an indictment.

Anyone who knows Virgil knows precisely how to interpret the statements in the indictment.

Does North Korea need help evading sanctions? Absolutely not, they do fine on their own.

Is a public conference talk by a young techie a national level threat? Absolutely not.

Who busts sanctions? Corporations working behind the scenes, with a profit motive.

Overall, the government's case looks misdirected.

It also doesn't look strong.

As an aside, there are many ways for a young techie to have a positive impact on the world that do not create an image problem for crypto.

Hoping that this concludes quickly, and teaches a valuable lesson to all, but with a minimum of wasted time and effort for Virgil, who is a valuable technical contributor.