 "Sam Bankman Fried. File Photo")
“Evil genius”, “greedy villain” or “brilliant, complex and humane person”, whatever Sam Bankman-Fried be considered, the FTX founder who was convicted last November for fraud and conspiracy after his cryptocurrency platform went bust, has attracted a jail recommendation for 100 years.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said Tuesday that the suggested 100-year prison sentence by Probation officers, an arm of the court, is “grotesque” and “barbaric”.
In presentence arguments the FTX founder’s attorney Marc Mukasey said a report by Probation officers improperly calculated federal sentencing guidelines to recommend a sentence just 10 years short of the maximum potential 110-year sentence.
A proper sentence, Mukasey said, would be based on guidelines that would call for between five years and 6 1/2 years in prison, at most.
While the prosecutors’ office did not respond on the matter, Mukasey noted that prosecutors have agreed with the 100-year recommendation and say it was supported by trial evidence.
On March 28, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan will sentence the man prosecutors say cheated investors and customers of at least $10 billion in businesses he controlled from 2017 through 2022.
His FTX trading platform was perceived by some in the cryptocurrency industry as a pioneer before it collapsed into bankruptcy in November 2022, weeks before he was brought to the United States from the Bahamas for trial.
Mukasey called on the judge to reject the “barbaric proposal” for a “brilliant, complex and humane person” who doesn’t use drugs, rarely drinks and is a first-time offender.
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More Shorts“Sam is not the ‘evil genius’ depicted in the media or the greedy villain described at trial,” Mukasey wrote.
“Sam is a 31-year-old, first-time, non-violent offender, who was joined in the conduct at issue by at least four other culpable individuals, in a matter where victims are poised to recover — were always poised to recover — a hundred cents on the dollar.”
FTX was once the world’s second-largest crypto exchange and Bankman-Fried seemed to be flying high with the purchase of Super Bowl advertising and endorsement from celebrities including comedian Larry David and NFL superstar quarterback Tom Brady.