Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO, submitted a 98-page brief to Judge Lewis Kaplan, along with letters from supporters, to argue for a prison sentence well below the 110 years involved. They emphasized his charitable contributions and expressed “deep regret” for the events leading up to his arrest.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense asks for a (very) short prison sentence
Since his conviction on all charges, we’ve heard little from Sam Bankman-Fried, who is spending his days behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
But today we learn that the former FTX CEO’s lawyers submitted a 98-page memo to Judge Lewis Kaplan (who oversaw the SBF trial), complete with letters from supporters claiming that there was no justification for Sam Bankman-Fried’s 110 years in prison, and that he had proved his good faith through various charitable donations.
Former FTX employees, contacted by the parents of the exchange’s ex-CEO, also contributed to the memo, along with a number of law professors.
“[Mr. Bankman-Fried is] deeply, deeply sorry for the pain he has caused over the past 2 years. After FTX’s collapse, his sole focus was helping customers get through this.”
Memo extract
While the most serious charges against Sam Bankman-Fried could each land him 20 years in prison, his lawyers stated in the memo that a justified sentence should be between 63 and 78 months’ imprisonment.
Judge Kaplan is expected to deliver the final verdict on March 28 concerning the former FTX executive. Federal prosecutors, for their part, have until March 15 to present their recommendations regarding the sentence to be served by Sam Bankman-Fried.
Marc Mukasey (who previously defended former US President Donald Trump) and a lawyer from Shapiro Arato Bach are now handling his defense.
Mukasey distinguished himself in the defense of Trevor Milton, who was sentenced to “only” 4 years’ imprisonment as opposed to the 11 requested by the prosecutors.
Former FTX CEO advises prison guards to buy SOL
In all, 29 different people wrote in the memo transferred to Judge Kaplan. Marc Mukasey drew on these various testimonies to portray Sam Bankman-Fried as an “altruistic and hard-working” billionaire, and to explain that his bizarre behaviors (indeed, we recall some surprising moments during his trial) were explained by a concern for “neurodiversity”.
“[Sam Bankman-Fried exhibits] outward characteristics typical of neurodiversity, such as irregular eye contact. He can be perceived as abrupt, dismissive, evasive, detached or indifferent.”
Memo extract
SBF’s defense is already planning to appeal his conviction, but it is very rare for criminal convictions to be overturned in this way.
According to the New York Times, Sam Bankman-Fried shares crypto investment advice in his prison, including advocating that guards buy SOL, the Solana blockchain cryptocurrency.
Recently, a member of the Bloods gang had revealed in an interview with reporter Tiffany Fong that Sam Bankman-Fried was “a good guy. F*cking weird, he can be really weird. But he’s a good guy.”
Source : New York Times
