- Federal prosecutors have urged Judge Lewis Kaplan to sentence Sam Bankman-Fried to 40 to 50 years in prison
- In a sentencing memo, prosecutors cited the “extraordinary scale” of Bankman-Fried’s offenses
- The FTX co-founder, convicted in November of seven fraud charges, faces a maximum penalty of 110 years; prosecutors argue for a severe sentence
Federal prosecutors have urged Judge Lewis Kaplan to sentence Sam Bankman-Fried to 40 to 50 years in prison due to the “extraordinary scale of his offenses.” The recommendation featured in a sentencing memo released on Friday, less than two weeks before the disgraced co-founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX learns how long he will face in get. Bankman-Fried was convicted of seven fraud charges in November and is set to receive his sentence on March 28, with the maximum penalty being 110 years.
Bankman-Fried Guilty on Seven Charges
Bankman-Freid was found guilty last November of seven charges related to defrauding his customers to the tune of billions of dollars. These charges include wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money following revelations that surfaced after the exchange’s collapse in November 2022.
In the 116-page document filed to Judge Kaplan in the US District Court in Manhattan, prosecutors emphasized, “Justice necessitates a prison term commensurate with the extraordinary scale of his offenses.” Few would disagree with this sentiment, although Bankman-Fried’s lawyers naturally argued that a much shorter sentence was warranted; in a separate submission last month, they argued for a sentence of no more than six and a half years, citing his autism spectrum disorder as a mitigating factor.
FTX Co-founder “Deeply, Deeply Sorry”
The submission from Bankman-Fried’s lawyers was accompanied by supportive letters from his parents and psychiatrist, among others, with his parents attesting that their son was indifferent to material wealth and diligently worked to reimburse customers in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse in November 2022, prior to his apprehension.
Bankman-Fried, the memo asserted, is “deeply, deeply sorry” for “the pain he caused over the last two years,” with his sole focus being on restoring customers’ losses.
Bankman-Fried now has ten days to wait and see if the testimonies will have any impact or if he will remain in prison until his 80s.
