Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried has received a 25-year prison sentence. This follows a federal court hearing, with Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York delivering the sentence. Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven felony charges, making him the first person associated with FTX and Alameda Research to face prison time after the exchange’s collapse in November 2022.
Judge Kaplan determined that SBF had committed witness tampering and perjury during his trial testimony regarding FTX user funds. Despite acknowledging Bankman-Fried’s “social awkwardness”, the Judge stated that, based on testimonies, SBF was aware of his culpability 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. I’ve been doing this job for close to 30 years. I’ve never seen a performance like that.”
According to a docket entry dated March 28, Judge Kaplan will deduct SBF’s time already served from his sentence. This results in a total of 291 months in prison. The Judge also proposed an $11-billion judgment in addition to SBF’s prison time, attributing this to losses of $1.7 billion for investors, $1.3 billion for lenders, and $8 billion for customers.
Prior to the sentence announcement, Bankman-Fried expressed regret for the events and asserted that “FTX would have survived” if it hadn’t been shut down. His attorneys depicted him as a misunderstood genius in their closing statement.
Sunil Kavuri, a UK national who testified on behalf of other FTX victims, stated that he had “suffered for two years” after the exchange’s collapse. He disputed the notion that the “loss was zero” based on FTX’s repayment plans.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said, “If Mr. Bankman-Fried thought mathematics justified it, he’d do it again.” He added that there was “no acceptance of responsibility” from the former CEO.
The sentence from Judge Kaplan essentially split the difference between recommendations from SBF’s attorneys and prosecutors. The latter had argued for a maximum of 6.5 and 50 years, respectively. Numerous experts anticipated a sentence of between 10 to 30 years based on the facts and the amount of funds involved in the case.
Four other individuals associated with FTX and Alameda charged in the same case as SBF have pleaded guilty and accepted deals. The next person likely to face sentencing is Ryan Salame, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, on May 1.
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