US Judge Seeks Clarification on Do Kwon’s Overseas Charges and Sentencing Credit

A US federal judge asked prosecutors and defense counsel to clarify the overseas criminal charges and potential penalties Do Kwon faces in South Korea and Montenegro ahead of his New York sentencing. Kwon, co‑founder of Terraform Labs, pleaded guilty in August to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud tied to the 2022 collapse of Terraform’s stablecoin and token. The court asked whether Kwon’s four months detained in Montenegro (for using forged travel documents) and the year he spent fighting extradition should count toward any US sentence, and whether South Korea would enforce or alter any remaining term if Kwon is transferred there after serving time in the US. South Korean prosecutors have sought extradition and domestic charges that could carry up to about 40 years in prison. US prosecutors recommended at least 12 years’ imprisonment, citing aggregate losses larger than those in FTX, Celsius and OneCoin cases combined; the defense asked for no more than five years. The judge’s queries will shape whether Kwon serves a US sentence first, how foreign detention credits are applied, and the scheduling of his punishments—outcomes traders should monitor because they affect legal finality and ongoing regulatory scrutiny of high‑profile crypto failures.