Russian Alexander Vinnik, who is under arrest in the United States on charges of laundering up to $9 billion through the BTC-e exchange, is trying to get him included in any option for a prisoner exchange between Moscow and Washington.

A crypto businessman would like to trade for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Vinnik’s lawyers submitted new documents to the court, where they are trying to change the restraining order in the case of their client.

“Mr Winnik should be allowed to … answer the charges against him and publicly advocate for his inclusion in the prisoner exchange,” wrote one of the lawyers, David Rizk (David Rizk).

The lawyer added that a public campaign is important in negotiations “in order to maximize the chances of such an exchange.” The US Justice Department has so far declined to comment.

Alexander Vinnik was detained in Greece in 2017 at the request of the US government. First, he was extradited to France, where he was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of $119,433. He was later returned to Greece, and in August 2022 he was taken to the United States. The US authorities accuse Vinnik of supporting someone else’s criminal activity through the BTC-e trading crypto platform by hiding and anonymizing transactions.

Earlier, Rizk did not rule out the possibility of considering the candidacy of his client for the next prisoner exchange between the Russian Federation and the United States.