As Sam Bankman-Fried faces the prospect of many years in jail, the disgraced FTX founder is making one final plea for a lenient sentence from a federal decide.
In a submitting on Tuesday evening, Bankman-Fried’s new workforce of attorneys made their advice to Choose Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the felony trial final fall the place a jury convicted Bankman-Fried on seven fraud-related counts associated to the November 2022 collapse of his crypto empire, FTX.
Within the 98-page document, filed alongside a ream of letters in assist of Bankman-Fried, the attorneys argued their shopper ought to solely face 63 to 78 months in jail, a relative slap on the wrist in comparison with the utmost penalty of 115 years that he faces.
“Sam Bankman-Fried has been described as a ‘sociopath,’ ‘a man with no morals, remorse or empathy,’ who is an ‘an ice-cold manipulator, bully and shameless liar,’” the attorneys wrote of their preliminary assertion. “They don’t know the true Sam Bankman-Fried.”
Downfall of the crypto king
The rise and fall of Sam Bankman-Fried, whose FTX change as soon as graced Tremendous Bowl commercials and carried a valuation north of $30 billion, captured worldwide consideration. The disgraced mogul oversaw a crypto empire within the Bahamas that attracted top venture capitalists and celebrities earlier than the partitions tumbled down amid a broader crypto collapse in 2022.
Quickly after the collapse, ugly particulars emerged about Bankman-Fried and his corporations: Slightly than making a challenger to the worldwide monetary system, Bankman-Fried had directed his internal circle to commit large fraud, stealing buyer deposits and utilizing them for their very own investments into luxury real estate and startups.
After U.S. authorities extradited Bankman-Fried from the Bahamas in late 2022, the circus round his felony proceedings started. His trial in October 2023, lower than a 12 months after the collapse, noticed prosecutors name high FTX executives—a number of of whom have been former close friends of Bankman-Fried’s—as their witnesses. In an emotional excessive level of the trial, Bankman-Fried’s former girlfriend, and the one-time government of his buying and selling agency, Caroline Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried directed her to commit crimes.
Damage by a lackluster efficiency from his attorneys, Bankman-Fried mustered a weak protection of his actions, taking the stand beneath a brutal cross-examination from Division of Justice prosecutor Danielle Sassoon. His conviction got here quickly after, with the jury discovering him responsible on all seven expenses, together with fraud.
Throwing the guide?
After his bail was revoked in August for leaking paperwork to the New York Instances in August, Bankman-Fried has been caught on the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the place he’ll stay by means of his sentencing. That date is rapidly approaching, with the listening to set for March 28.
The memo filed on Tuesday by Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals is a procedural step forward of the sentencing. The submitting was written by Bankman-Fried’s new workforce of attorneys, together with Marc Mukasey, who as soon as represented Donald Trump and is known for his impassioned courtroom appearances.
Within the doc, the attorneys echo earlier arguments employed by Bankman-Fried’s authorized workforce, together with that there was no hurt to prospects, lenders, and traders. They nod to an announcement from the FTX chapter property that it intends to pay again prospects in full, though the end result is extra a results of rising crypto costs—the property can pay again cryptocurrency holdings at their value on the time of the chapter, which hit a low because of FTX’s collapse.
The legal professionals additionally argue that Bankman-Fried “presents at times as a paradox,” pointing to his “neurodiversity,” which they are saying impacts how he’s perceived. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys had beforehand requested to ask questions of potential jurists over whether or not his ADHD would influence their judgment.
They additional argue that Bankman-Fried shouldn’t be in contrast with fellow fraudster Bernie Madoff, who confronted a 150-year sentence as a result of Bankman-Fried created an precise enterprise. As an alternative, he must be handled like Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who solely obtained 135 months of jail time or the “bond king” Michael Milken.
The legal professionals supplemented the memorandum with 29 character statements in assist of Bankman-Fried, together with from his brother, Gabe, who has saved a low profile by means of the felony proceedings as a consequence of his association with FTX’s charitable efforts.
“Sam has put his heart and time and energy into his philanthropy, and I believe it has made the world a better place,” Bankman-Fried’s brother wrote.
Prosecutors will file their very own sentencing suggestions by March 15.
