Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence after his conviction on seven felony counts, will take the following step in his appeals course of with a listening to scheduled for November.
In keeping with a Wednesday discover within the US Courtroom of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Bankman-Fried’s appeals case has been calendared for arguments on Nov. 4. The court docket continuing will mark the primary vital motion within the former CEO’s prison case since his transfer from a New York City facility in March to at least one in California.
The listening to within the Second Circuit had been anticipated since Bankman-Fried’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal in April 2024 over his 2023 conviction and 25-year sentence. Bankman-Fried’s authorized group argued in his appeal filed in September 2024 that the previous CEO was “by no means presumed harmless,” additionally claiming that prosecutors offered a “false narrative” of FTX consumer funds as completely misplaced.
Bankman-Fried’s case included a number of the most important prison costs in opposition to a high-profile cryptocurrency determine on the time. Ought to the appellate court docket reverse the decrease court docket ruling, it may imply a brand new trial or sentencing listening to for SBF.
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FTX, with many workers primarily based within the Bahamas, skilled extreme liquidity points and filed for chapter in November 2022. A number of of the trade’s C-suite executives have been criminally charged after its collapse, however Bankman-Fried was the one one to stay with a not responsible plea, resulting in a New York trial monitored by many throughout the globe.
Although initially allowed to stay at his dad and mom’ California dwelling after his extradition from the Bahamas, a choose revoked SBF’s bail in August 2023 after listening to proof suggesting he tried to intimidate witnesses in his case.
Since March, Bankman-Fried has been housed on the Federal Correctional Establishment at Terminal Island in California. In keeping with the US Bureau of Prisons, his anticipated launch date will likely be Oct. 25, 2044.
There’s nonetheless one prison case linked to FTX awaiting its day in court docket
Following Bankman-Fried’s trial and sentencing, the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York held sentencing hearings for 4 of SBF’s associates: former Alameda Analysis CEO Caroline Ellison (additionally SBF’s ex-girlfriend), former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh.
Ellison, who pleaded responsible and testified at Bankman-Fried’s trial, was sentenced to two years in jail in September 2024. She is anticipated to be launched in March 2026. Wang and Singh, who additionally testified, have been each sentenced to time served.
Salame, nonetheless, initially pleaded responsible in 2023 however later tried to vacate his plea in response to prosecutors pursuing costs in opposition to his accomplice, Michelle Bond. He was finally sentenced to more than seven years in jail, to which he reported in October 2024. Bond’s case was nonetheless ongoing on the time of publication.
Rumors of a presidential pardon
Studies have urged that Bankman-Fried, regardless of shifting ahead within the appellate court docket, may be seeking a pardon from US President Donald Trump. In an interview launched in February, he signaled a willingness to extra intently establish with Republicans and right-leaning politicians slightly than Democrats.
It’s unclear if the Trumpt could contemplate a pardon for Bankman-Fried, given the general public consideration on his case. Shortly after taking workplace in January, Trump pardoned Silk Highway founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in jail.
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