Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court, faces over 100 years in prison
Sam Bankman-Fried, once the CEO of FTX and a billionaire wunderkind of the cryptocurrency world, will be sentenced to prison Thursday morning in New York City. He was convicted on seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in November.
Should the judge in his case impose the harshest penalty allowed, the 32-year-old would face more than 100 years and die an incarcerated man, a possibility his lawyer has called “grotesque”.
In advance of the hearing, lawyers for the US Department of Justice and for Bankman-Fried have engaged in bitter back-and-forth over how long of a prison sentence would be appropriate. His lawyers have argued for a minimal sentence of just six years. Prosecutors are advocating for 40-50 years for his “unmatched greed and hubris” in perpetrating the $8bn (£6.3bn) fraud.
Sam Bankman-Fried deserves 40 to 50 years for FTX fraud, prosecutors say.
Key events
Sam Bankman-Fried requested a six-year sentence
Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said in late February that the suggested 100-year prison sentence for the FTX founder would be “grotesque” and “barbaric” and at most a term of a few years behind bars would be appropriate for crimes that the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul still disputes.
In pre-sentencing arguments filed just minutes before deadline in Manhattan federal court, attorney Marc Mukasey said a report by probation officers improperly calculated federal sentencing guidelines to recommend a sentence just 10 years short of the maximum potential 110-year sentence. Bankman-Fried, known for his casual clothing and wild hair, was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in November 2023.
A proper sentence, Mukasey said, would be based on guidelines that would call for between five and six and a half years in prison, at most.
“Sam is not the ‘evil genius’ depicted in the media or the greedy villain described at trial,” Mukasey wrote. “Sam is a first-time, non-violent offender, who was joined in the conduct at issue by at least four other culpable individuals, in a matter where victims are poised to recover – were always poised to recover – a hundred cents on the dollar.”
US prosecutors petitioned for Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced to 40-50 years in prison
In mid-March, federal prosecutors requested that judge Lewis Kaplan sentence Bankman-Fried to at least four decades in prison. The maximum penalty he could face would amount to more than 100 years.
“His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalization; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people’s money,” the US attorneys in Manhattan wrote. “And even now Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did was wrong.”
Sam Bankman-Fried to be sentenced in Manhattan federal court, faces over 100 years in prison
Sam Bankman-Fried, once the CEO of FTX and a billionaire wunderkind of the cryptocurrency world, will be sentenced to prison Thursday morning in New York City. He was convicted on seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money in November.
Should the judge in his case impose the harshest penalty allowed, the 32-year-old would face more than 100 years and die an incarcerated man, a possibility his lawyer has called “grotesque”.
In advance of the hearing, lawyers for the US Department of Justice and for Bankman-Fried have engaged in bitter back-and-forth over how long of a prison sentence would be appropriate. His lawyers have argued for a minimal sentence of just six years. Prosecutors are advocating for 40-50 years for his “unmatched greed and hubris” in perpetrating the $8bn (£6.3bn) fraud.
Sam Bankman-Fried deserves 40 to 50 years for FTX fraud, prosecutors say.
