Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison
As reported, after a trial of more than a month at the end of last year, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the man behind the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, was found guilty. guilty on all 7 charges.
In addition, the prosecution proposed a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years for Bankman-Fried, plus an $11 billion fine, while the defense proposed a range of 63-78 months as a sentence. fairer. Since then, SBF has been detained at MDC prison in New York City (USA), waiting for the official sentencing date.
Today at 13:30 UTC March 28, 2024, Sam Bankman-Fried was once again present in Manhattan court (USA) to face his official sentence on the charges of crime and conspiracy. different regarding the collapse of FTX.
Citing a report from attorney Matthew Russell Lee, the courtroom was packed with attendees including the jury, prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney, witness Sunil Kavuri and SBF attorneys Mark Mukasey and Torrey Young. Sam Bankman-Fried was brought in wearing the light brown uniform of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (MDC).
At the beginning of the sentencing hearing, presiding Judge Lewis A. Kaplan rejected the defense's argument about the loss, both in law and in fact. The assertion that customers and creditors will be paid in full is misleading - the defendant is equating losses to the USD trading volume in the bankruptcy case.
FTX committed the crime of misappropriating customer funds, and they had no right to use it for Alameda's risky investments as well as many other things. He argued that the sentence given in previous trials should not be reduced even if the offender has paid back the money.
"For the reasons stated by Mr. Ray, it's just speculation that people get their money back. So I see losses exceeding $550 million, the highest. I see investors losing 1 7 billion USD, lenders lost 1.3 billion USD and customers lost 8 billion USD."
SBF intentionally obstructed justice and committed perjury
"I find Mr. Bankman-Fried's text messages to the former general counsel to indeed constitute witness tampering. I make three findings of perjury based on the testimony at trial."
Judge Kaplan found that Mr. Bankman-Fried committed perjury at trial when he falsely stated that "he did not know that Alameda had used FTX customers' money and did not know about the user debt of 8 billion USD in October 2022. "
Not only that, Sam Bankman-Friend was also considered by judge Kaplan to have made false statements in repaying third-party loans, because Alameda would require Alameda to borrow more money from customers from FTX.
Ignoring the arguments of obstruction of justice from SBF and the defense attorney, Judge Kaplan said that the law imposes a sentence on Sam Bankman-Friend of life imprisonment, with a maximum sentence of up to 1,320 years. month.
Victim of the FTX collapse Sunil Kavuri, a British citizen who flew from London to attend the sentencing hearing, testified that FTX made false statements to the media about its losses. All of the billions of dollars worth of assets liquidated on the exchange belonged to users, and FTX used them to buy shares of Galaxy Digital and Anthropic.
At the same time, it alleges that "at least three people committed suicide because of losing money on FTX. Therefore, FTX bankruptcy has seriously harmed me and many other investors... Sam and his accomplices, Those who helped need to be held accountable."
SBF's lawyer defends his client with the image of a "selfless eccentric genius"
Immediately after the accusations from victim Sunil Kavuri, SBF lawyer Mukasey spoke up to defend his client with humane arguments, arguing that Sam was not a brutal serial killer. patience in the financial sector as people think:
"He's not a predator. He makes decisions based on calculations in his head, not malice in his heart."
"SBF's mother once said Sam is easily misunderstood by others, and often becomes the main character in a story about a greedy conman... Sam never runs away with money...He cares very much to everyone getting their money back."
"Sam likes to eat vegetarian and is a billionaire who doesn't care about material things."
"While in school, Sam spent a lot of time helping animals. On Wall Street, Sam donated his earnings to charity until he was 21 years old. Sam's devotion to others comes from before the appearance of FTX".
"Sam never sought to become the king of cryptocurrency like everyone thinks. Sam just wants to have the best positive impact on the world."
"SBF's mother once said Sam had a huge sadness deep inside. Sam would feel uncomfortable hugging me - but I knew he would donate his kidney to me if I needed it... He was in worst prison in the country in the last seven months".
At the end of the defense, lawyer Mukasey called for leniency for his client:
"Don't ruin the best time of a kind young man's life like this. Let him have the opportunity to meet his soulmate and start a family. We ask that you please sentence him with a kind heart".
SBF accepts responsibility, regrets, and apologizes for the collapse of FTX
Sam Bankman-Fried admitted to making multiple mistakes when users were denied refunds because there was a liquidity crisis and received conflicting statements. "All of that was partly caused by me" - SBF took responsibility.
"I want to express my sympathy for what Mr. Sunil as well as all customers have had to endure because of misplaced trust...My useful life for society may have ended. I have contribute what I can. I will not be able to continue to contribute if I have to receive a sentence of 5 - 40 years in prison.
If I have a chance to do what I want for the world, hopefully I can see people succeed, not fail like I did. That haunts me every day."
Contrary to Sam Bankman-Fried's words of apology, Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos emphasized the need for a prison sentence of at least 40 -50 years so that SBF does not have the opportunity to relaunch FTX or an exchange equivalent to the "remediation for legacy users" reason.
"SBF stole more than 8 billion USD. It was theft from customers around the world. It was a loss that affected everyone enormously and caused immeasurable damage. I want to mention came a few letters from new victims.
Mr Mukasey said Sam was a moral man, not a monster, but committed extremely serious crimes that caused harm to many people - and if given the opportunity, it cannot be ruled out that he could do it again. Therefore, I ask the court to sentence me to 40-50 years in prison."
The judge reviews SBF's behavior and imposes a final sentence
Following arguments from the parties, and considering the factors based on Code 3553, Judge Kaplan concurred with respect to Sam Bankman-Fried's background. SBFs are also citizens and deserve privileges, loving parents, and every advantage they can bestow.
Judge Kaplan knew the Probation Department recommended a prison sentence of 105 years, and the Government requested 40 - 50 years. But that sentence was more than necessary. The punishment must be appropriate to the severity of the crime, and people also need to feel it is truly fair.
As a result, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison on seven felony counts for billions of dollars in fraud.
Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh and Ryan Salame - four other individuals associated with FTX and Alameda Research charged in the same case as SBF - pleaded guilty and accepted the deals.
Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, was the only one of the four who did not testify at Bankman-Fried's criminal trial. However, he may be the next person to face judgment on May 1, 2024.
