Key takeaways:
- The former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has filed an appeal of his conviction and imprisonment, according to his attorneys.
- The application was made two weeks following SBF’s sentence hearing, where Judge Kaplan also mandated the forfeiture of $11 billion.
The former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has filed an appeal of his conviction and imprisonment, according to his attorneys.
Attorney Alexandra Shapiro stated that Bankman-Fried planned to appeal his jury conviction on seven felony counts and Judge Lewis Kaplan’s 25-year federal prison term in a notice filed on April 11 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The submission was anticipated because SBF’s attorneys had stated they intended to file an appeal during the sentencing hearing on March 28.
The application was made two weeks following SBF’s sentence hearing, where Judge Kaplan also mandated the forfeiture of $11 billion.
On April 8, the attorneys for the former CEO of FTX requested that the judge grant an order permitting SBF to stay at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn during the appeal process instead of being sent to a federal prison in the Bay Area.
When cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 due to liquidity problems, the prosecution against SBF and his partners began.
Before SBF was extradited to the US and accused of fraud, the company was detained in the Bahamas, where its offices were located. In November 2023, a jury found SBF guilty of seven felonies.
Concerned cryptocurrency users appear to disagree with Judge Kaplan’s sentence. Given the devastation SBF did to thousands of FTX consumers, many people felt that 25 years was insufficient, while others hinted that the prison sentence would work as an effective deterrent for influential people in the industry.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals will now probably receive SBF’s filing, and a judge panel there will have the authority to either uphold the federal court’s verdict affirming the former FTX CEO’s guilt or reverse it and lay the foundation for a potential new trial. In his filing, Shapiro did not specify why SBF would file an appeal.
Ryan Salame, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh are among the colleagues of SBF at FTX and Alameda Research whose sentencing hearings are proceeding. Salame’s sentencing is set for May 28. Prior to SBF’s trial, all four defendants entered guilty pleas and accepted agreements.
