Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers criticize prosecutors’ 50-year prison proposal as distorted, amid wire fraud and conspiracy accusations related to his crypto empire’s downfall.
U.S. prosecutors’ proposal to put FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in prison for as long as 50 years adopts a “medieval view of punishment,” as the filing portrays the disgraced crypto entrepreneur as a “depraved super-villain,” Bloomberg reports, citing a written response from Bankman-Fried’s lawyers on the proposal.
Nonetheless, prosecutors assert that a sentence ranging from 40 to 50 years is warranted for Bankman-Fried’s involvement in what they describe as a “historic” crime, which targeted over 1 million victims and resulted in losses exceeding $10 billion due to the collapse of FTX. Bankman-Fried’s defense team disagrees, proposing a prison term of 5.25 to 6.5 years, and emphasizing that despite FTX’s collapse, the exchange’s clients were reimbursed.
“With marked hostility, the memorandum distorts reality to support its precious ‘loss’ narrative and casts Sam as a depraved super-villain; it attributes to him dark and megalomaniacal motives that fly in the face of the record; it makes apocalyptic prophecies of recidivism; and it adopts a medieval view of punishment to reach what amounts to a death-in-prison sentencing recommendation.”
Bankman-Fried’s defense team
In November 2023, a jury unanimously convicted the FTX founder on all seven criminal charges. FTX and Alameda Research declared bankruptcy in November 2022 as the crisis unfolded. As crypto.news reported, the bankruptcy filings revealed a chaotic and financially unsound environment within FTX, with court documents suggesting that the company owed over $3 billion to its top 50 creditors. Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is due Mar. 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET.
