Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried have criticized prosecutors’ proposed 50-year prison term as distorted amid accusations of fraud and conspiracy linked to the fall of his cryptocurrency empire.
US prosecutors’ proposal to jail FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for up to 50 years is a ‘medieval view of punishment’ in filings that describe the disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur as a ‘depraved supervillain’ was adopted, Bloomberg reported. Bankman-Fried Attorney’s Written Response to the Offer.
Nonetheless, prosecutors argue that a sentence of 40 to 50 years is warranted for Bankman-Fried’s involvement in a “historic” crime that targeted more than 1 million victims and caused more than $10 billion in losses as a result of FTX’s collapse. . . Bankman-Fried’s lawyers disagreed, suggesting a prison term of 5.25 to 6.5 years and emphasizing that despite FTX’s collapse, the exchange’s customers were compensated.
“With considerable hostility, the memorandum distorts reality and casts Sam as a depraved supervillain to support its cherished ‘loss’ narrative. I think it’s a dark, megalomaniacal motivation for him to go against the record. It makes an apocalyptic prediction about recidivism. And to reach the level of recommending the death penalty, we adopted a medieval view of punishment.”
Bankman-Fried’s defense team
In November 2023, a jury unanimously found the FTX founder guilty on all seven criminal charges. FTX and Alameda Research declared bankruptcy in November 2022 as the crisis unfolded. As crypto.news reported, the bankruptcy filing revealed a chaotic and financially unhealthy environment within FTX, with court documents showing the company owes more than $3 billion to its top 50 creditors. Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is due March 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET.