NEW YORK (Reuters), – On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted two Europeans who allegedly conspired with a cryptocurrency researcher recently sentenced to aid North Korea evade U.S. Sanctions.

Alejandro Cao de Benos, Spain, and Christopher Emms from Great Britain are accused of conspiring with Virgil Griffith in order to illicitly supply cryptocurrency and other blockchain-technology services to North Korea.

Emms (aged 30) and Cao de Benos (77) could be sentenced to up to 20 years each for conspiring against U.S. sanctions violations, according to U.S.prosecutors.

The defendants were still at large. The lawyers of the defendants could not be immediately identified.

Griffith, who pleaded guilty in September last year to conspiring against U.S. Sanctions violations was sentenced to be released on April 12, to 5-1/4-years imprisonment.

After being refused permission by the U.S. Department of State, Griffith was allegedly denied entry to the Pyongyang Blockchain & Cryptocurrency conference in April 2019.