The protection’s courtroom submitting was supplemented with letters from Bankman-Fried’s relations and numerous associates, testifying to his good character, regret, and utilitarian beliefs. “The general public notion of Sam couldn’t be farther from the reality,” wrote Barbara Fried, his mom. “Being consigned to jail for many years will destroy Sam as absolutely as would hanging him, as a result of it should take away all the things on the planet that provides his life that means.”
Bankman-Fried’s counsel argued for a shorter sentence on condition that FTX collectors are on monitor to recuperate their cash in full on the finish of the chapter course of—though not everyone’s happy with the outdated valuation of the assets, given crypto’s current meteoric rise in value. In addition they dismissed the federal government’s declare that Bankman-Fried would reoffend if allowed to reenter society too shortly as “conjecture on high of hypothetical on high of supposition.” Bankman-Fried deserved not more than six-and-a-half years in jail, his counsel claimed.
The choose was unsympathetic. “There’s a danger this man will do one thing very unhealthy sooner or later,” Kaplan mentioned, homing in on Bankman-Fried’s urge for food for danger. He described Bankman-Fried as a “math nerd” whose decision-making framework was guided primarily by “EV,” or anticipated worth. “In different phrases, this can be a man prepared to flip a coin as to the possibility of life’s continued existence on Earth. That is a leitmotif of this whole case,” he mentioned.
The issue for Bankman-Fried is that he can “by no means put the toothpaste again within the tube,” says Paul Tuchmann, one other former US prosecutor and associate at regulation agency Wiggin and Dana. The truth that FTX customers are set to recuperate cash at an unspecified future date “doesn’t practically undo the hurt they suffered” within the intervening interval, he says. In a single victim impact statement, an FTX buyer mentioned they’d subsisted on ham, cheese, and ketchup sandwiches after the change’s collapse. In another, John Ray III, the restructuring skilled steering FTX by way of chapter, wrote that clients “won’t ever be returned to the identical financial place they might have been in in the present day absent [Bankman-Fried’s] colossal fraud,” as a result of the chapter claims aren’t primarily based on present crypto values.
The US Division of Justice made play of those points in its own presentence filings, urgent dwelling the gravity of Bankman-Fried’s crimes, the vary and variety of his victims, and the way in which he obstructed the investigation by allegedly giving “false testimony” on the stand.
The federal government additionally underlined the necessity to deter would-be crypto fraudsters, suggesting that “some people have operated below the misimpression that they’re unregulated, not topic to felony legal guidelines, or can keep away from scrutiny or important jail time.” Till the autumn of FTX, the DOJ had secured few landmark crypto convictions, regardless of forming a specialist crypto-crime task force in 2021. However in sentencing Bankman-Fried, who had develop into an virtually messianic determine in crypto, the choose might elect to “ship a message” to the trade, says Tuchmann.
With sentencing full, Bankman-Fried shall be returned to the short-term holding facility wherein he has been stored since his arrest, till the Federal Bureau of Prisons selects a everlasting vacation spot. The choose advisable Bankman-Fried be housed in a low-to-medium-security facility as shut as doable to the San Francisco Bay Space, the place his mother and father reside. A choice shall be reached inside the subsequent few months.
Within the federal system, there isn’t a risk of parole. The most effective Bankman-Fried can hope for—in need of successful on enchantment—is early launch for good conduct.
Addressing the courtroom earlier than receiving his sentence, Bankman-Fried appeared he had already resigned himself to a heavy sentence. “I made a collection of unhealthy selections. They weren’t egocentric selections. They weren’t selfless selections. They have been unhealthy selections,” he mentioned. “My helpful life might be over. It’s been over for some time now—since earlier than my arrest.”
The DOJ has steadily in contrast the FTX founder to Ponzi fraudster Bernie Madoff, who acquired a jail sentence of 150 years. However even the sentence requested by Bankman-Fried’s counsel feels lengthy, says Naftalis, given the variations between the 2 instances. “This isn’t Madoff,” he says. “SBF was on high of crypto, however crypto shouldn’t be Wall Road. Let’s keep in mind that.”
In no matter facility, Bankman-Fried’s incarceration shall be removed from snug. “Simply give it some thought,” says Naftalis. “A day in jail is a very long time.”
It is a creating story. Please test again for updates.
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