Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison – Following a federal court sentencing hearing, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has been given a 25-year prison term. Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York handed down a sentence of 240 months for seven felony charges, totaling 25 years.
Bankman-Fried, associated with FTX and Alameda Research, becomes the first individual connected to the exchange to receive prison time since its collapse in November 2022. Additionally, Judge Kaplan determined that Bankman-Fried engaged in witness tampering leading to the revocation of his bail in August 2023, and committed perjury during his trial regarding FTX user funds.
He acknowledged Bankman-Fried’s “social awkwardness” but said, based on former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s testimony, SBF knew he was at fault but was “not going to admit a thing.” “Punishment must fit the seriousness of the crime,” said Judge Kaplan. “And this. Was. A. Serious. Crime. When not lying, Bankman-Fried was evasive, hair splitting, trying to get the prosecutors to rephrase questions for him.”
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“I’ve been doing this job for close for 30 years. I’ve never seen a performance like that.” A docket entry dated March 28 in the Southern District of New York indicated that the judge would subtract the time Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried has already served from his sentence, resulting in 291 months of imprisonment. Additionally, Judge Kaplan proposed an $11-billion judgment in conjunction with Bankman-Fried’s prison term.
He stated that FTX investors suffered a $1.7 billion loss, lenders lost $1.3 billion, and customers lost $8 billion. Inner City Press reporter Matthew Lee noted that the New York courtroom was filled with members of the public and officials before Bankman-Fried was brought out by the U.S. Marshals. The former FTX CEO was said to be dressed in light brown attire, the uniform of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he has been held since his bail was revoked by the judge.
“I reject the defense’s argument about loss, both on the law and on the facts,” said Judge Kaplan, according to Inner City Press. “The assertion that customers and creditors will be paid in full is misleading — defendants equate loss with dollar volume in the bankruptcy case.” The judge added: “A fortuitous run-up in the value of some cryptocurrencies bears no relation to the gravity of the crimes that were committed.”
“A thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas and successfully bets is not entitled to a sentencing reduction.” Before the judge announced the sentence, Bankman-Fried said he was “sorry about what happened at every stage,” claiming that “FTX would have survived” if it hadn’t been shut down. In a final statement, his attorneys seemingly portrayed the former FTX CEO as a misunderstood genius: “Sam was not a ruthless financial serial killer.”
“He wasn’t predatory. He makes decisions with math in his head, not malice in his heart.” Sunil Kavuri, a U.K. national who flew in from London for the sentencing hearing, testified that he had “suffered for two years” after the collapse of FTX. Kavuri addressed the court on behalf of other FTX victims, pushing back against the narrative that the “loss was zero” based on the exchange’s plans for repayment.
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“If Mr. Bankman-Fried thought mathematics justified it, he’d do it again,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos. He added there was “no acceptance of responsibility” from the former CEO. Judge Kaplan’s decision fell somewhere between the recommendations put forth by SBF’s attorneys and prosecutors, who advocated for a maximum of 6.5 and 50 years respectively. Many experts had anticipated a sentencing range of 10 to 30 years, considering the case’s particulars and the monetary amounts involved.
In the same legal proceedings as SBF, Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Ryan Salame, all connected to FTX and Alameda, have pleaded guilty and reached agreements. Among them, Salame, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, abstained from testifying at Bankman-Fried’s trial. He is expected to be the next to receive sentencing, scheduled for May 1.
