Sam Bankman-Fried loses appeal of 25-year sentence

Investing.com -- Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal of his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence was denied on Friday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

A three-judge panel rejected the appeal filed by Bankman-Fried, who founded the now-collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange. A federal jury in Manhattan found him guilty on seven felony charges in 2023.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office prosecuted Bankman-Fried for stealing $8 billion from FTX customers. He faced two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy, to which he had pleaded not guilty.

During his trial, Bankman-Fried acknowledged making mistakes while running FTX but denied stealing funds. His defense lawyers argued in the appeal that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan improperly blocked evidence that would have supported Bankman-Fried's belief that FTX had sufficient funds to cover customer withdrawals.

Prosecutors maintained that trial evidence, including testimony from three of Bankman-Fried's former deputies, proved his guilt. These former employees pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors. They testified that Bankman-Fried directed them to use FTX customer funds to cover losses at Alameda Research, his crypto-focused hedge fund.

At his March 2024 sentencing hearing, Kaplan stated that Bankman-Fried knew his actions were wrong but "made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught."

Bankman-Fried is currently held at a low-security federal prison near Santa Barbara, California. His release date is scheduled for 2044.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Stripe, Advent In Talks To Buy Paypal - WSJ
• Paramount Skydance clears global regulators for WBD deal, faces state AG suit
• Aurora Spine settles patent dispute, secures $600K insider loan