Criminal case
United States v. Gannon Ken Van Dyke
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1:26-cr-00156 (26 Cr. 156)
Charged
Van Dyke pleaded not guilty in April 2026 and was released on bond. His motion to dismiss the indictment was argued before Judge Margaret Garnett on Oct. 7, 2026; no ruling had been reported as of Oct. 21, 2026. The charges are allegations and have not been proven.
The question
Whether event contracts on a prediction market count as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act, so that trading them on misappropriated government information can be prosecuted as commodities fraud, and whether confidential military plans are property for wire-fraud purposes.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan unsealed a five-count indictment against Gannon Ken Van Dyke, an active-duty Army soldier based at Fort Bragg, on April 23, 2026. The government alleges he used classified information about the U.S. operation to capture Nicolas Maduro to bet about $33,000 on a Polymarket contract on Maduro's exit, making roughly $410,000. He is charged with three Commodity Exchange Act counts, wire fraud and an unlawful monetary transaction; he has pleaded not guilty and these remain allegations. The CFTC filed a parallel civil suit, which has been stayed while the criminal case proceeds. Van Dyke has moved to dismiss, arguing among other things that the contracts are not swaps.
Criminal charges are allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Docket timeline
Judge Garnett heard argument on Van Dyke's motion to dismiss, which argues that the Polymarket contracts are not swaps and that military plans are not property under the wire-fraud statute; she did not rule from the bench.
Source: courthousenews.com
In the parallel CFTC civil case, Judge Andrew Carter granted prosecutors' motion to stay the civil action until the criminal case concludes.
Source: cointelegraph.com
A magistrate judge signed an order unsealing the indictment in United States v. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 26 Cr. 156 (S.D.N.Y.), on the government's application.
Source: storage.courtlistener.com
The Justice Department announced the unsealing of a five-count indictment in the Southern District of New York (three Commodity Exchange Act counts, wire fraud, and an unlawful monetary transaction); the case was assigned to Judge Margaret M. Garnett. The CFTC filed a parallel civil complaint the same day.
Source: justice.gov
Van Dyke pleaded not guilty and was released on a $250,000 bond (exact arraignment date not confirmed; a photo caption dates a court appearance to April 28, 2026).
Source: courthousenews.com
Sources
- Unsealing order, United States v. Van Dyke, 26 Cr. 156 (S.D.N.Y.) (CourtListener RECAP)
- DOJ press release 26-397 (2026-04-23)
- CFTC Release 9217-26 (2026-04-23)
- NPR (2026-04-23)
- DLA Piper client alert (2026-05-12)
- Cointelegraph: civil case stayed (2026-08-10)
- Courthouse News: motion to dismiss argued (2026-10-07)
- Morrison Foerster alert (2026-04-28)