Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. This comes after his conviction on seven felony charges and his involvement in the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022.
In addition to the prison time, Judge Kaplan also suggested an $11 billion judgment against Bankman-Fried. According to the judge, FTX investors lost $1.7 billion, lenders lost $1.3 billion, and customers lost $8 billion.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Kaplan found that Bankman-Fried had committed witness tampering and perjury. He stated that Bankman-Fried was aware of his wrongdoing but refused to admit it. The judge described Bankman-Fried’s behavior in court as evasive and manipulative.
The courtroom was reportedly packed with members of the public and officials when Bankman-Fried was brought in by the U.S. Marshals. He was wearing the uniform of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he has been held since his bail was revoked.
Bankman-Fried’s defense argued that FTX would have survived if it hadn’t been shut down and claimed that the loss suffered by customers and creditors was not as significant as portrayed. However, Judge Kaplan rejected these arguments, stating that the loss should not be equated with dollar volume in the bankruptcy case.
The sentence imposed by Judge Kaplan fell between the recommendations of Bankman-Fried’s attorneys and the prosecutors. The former argued for a maximum of 6.5 years, while the latter requested 50 years. Experts had predicted a sentence of 10 to 30 years based on the facts of the case.
Four other individuals associated with FTX and Alameda have pleaded guilty and accepted deals in the same case. They are Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Ryan Salame. Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, did not testify at Bankman-Fried’s trial and is expected to be sentenced on May 1.
Overall, Bankman-Fried’s sentencing marks a significant development in the legal proceedings surrounding the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, with implications for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.