Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), ex-Head of crypto exchange FTX, was found guilty of seven criminal offenses. The court’s sentence is 25 years in prison.
Bloomberg reported that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found SBF guilty of all charges and sentenced him to 300 months in prison, which is 25 years. The prosecution demanded the former head of FTX up to 50 years, while the lawyers insisted on a more lenient punishment — up to six and a half years.
SBF will have to serve his sentence in the state of California, where parole isn’t practiced. At best, he can be released a few years earlier for good behavior.
During the hearing, Judge Lewis Kaplan also noted that SBF was found guilty of perjury and fabricating testimony. Sam Bankman-Fried intends to appeal. He also said he was remorseful for his actions, but the judge rejected his remorse, noting that the defendant didn’t plan to plead guilty. The judge stated that the ex-CEO of FTX would have to pay a fine of $11 billion. Matthew Lee, Founder of Inner City Press, published a detailed transcript of the hearing.
The cryptocurrency community believes that the judge’s sentence was too lenient, given that the maximum possible sentence on the charges was 110 years.
SBF’s former colleagues pleaded guilty in December 2022 and were actively cooperating with the investigation since, including testifying against the ex-head of FTX. However, they’re also subject to several legal proceedings, with former FTX and Alameda Research executives accused of committing the biggest financial fraud in history.
