Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy — a dramatic fall from a crest of success that included a Tremendous Bowl commercial and superstar endorsements from stars like quarterback Tom Brady, basketball star Stephen Curry and comic Larry David.
US District Choose Lewis A. Kaplan imposed the sentence in the identical Manhattan courtroom the place, 4 months in the past, Bankman-Fried testified that his intention had been to revolutionise the rising cryptocurrency market along with his revolutionary and altruistic concepts, to not steal.
Kaplan mentioned the sentence mirrored “that there’s a threat that this man will probably be in place to do one thing very dangerous sooner or later. And it isn’t a trivial threat in any respect.”
He added that it was “for the aim of disabling him to the extent that may appropriately be finished for a major time frame.”
Kaplan additional ordered Bankman-Fried to forfeit over $US11 billion ($18.9 billion). He additionally he would advise the Federal Bureau of Prisons to ship him to a medium-security jail or much less close to the San Francisco space as a result of he is unlikely to be a bodily menace to different inmates or jail employees, and his autism and social awkwardness would make him weak to different inmates in a high-security location.
Prosecutors had really useful a jail sentence of 40 to 50 years.
“The defendant victimised tens of hundreds of individuals and firms, throughout a number of continents, over a interval of a number of years. He stole cash from clients who entrusted it to him; he lied to buyers; he despatched fabricated paperwork to lenders; he pumped tens of millions of {dollars} in unlawful donations into our political system; and he bribed international officers. Every of those crimes is worthy of a prolonged sentence,” prosecutors mentioned in a court docket submitting.
Prosecutors mentioned Bankman-Fried had value clients, buyers and lenders over $US10 billion ($15 billion) by misappropriating billions of {dollars} to gas his quest for affect and dominance within the new trade, and had illegally used cash from FTX depositors to cowl his bills, which included buying luxurious properties within the Caribbean, alleged bribes to Chinese language officers and personal planes.
Kaplan agreed with prosecutors on Thursday that Bankman-Fried shouldn’t get leniency simply because some buyers and clients would possibly get a few of their misplaced a refund.
He referred to as the argument “logically flawed” and “speculative.” He mentioned clients misplaced about $8 billion ($12.2 billion), buyers misplaced $1.7 billion ($2.6 billion) and lenders had been shorted by $1.3 billion ($2 billion).
Kaplan additionally cited three situations the place he concluded that Bankman-Fried dedicated perjury throughout his trial testimony, together with when Bankman-Fried testified that he did not know till simply weeks earlier than FTX collapsed into chapter 11 that buyer funds had been being diverted to a hedge fund offshoot of FTX.
Given an opportunity to talk, Bankman-Fried stood and apologised in a rambling assertion, saying: “Lots of people really feel actually let down. And so they had been very let down. And I am sorry about that. I am sorry about what occurred at each stage.”
He added, “My helpful life might be over. It has been over for some time now, from earlier than my arrest.”
Defence lawyer Marc Mukasey mentioned his shopper was misunderstood.
“Sam was not a ruthless monetary serial killer who set out each morning to harm individuals,” Mukasey mentioned.
“Sam Bankman-Fried would not make choices with malice in his coronary heart. He makes choices with math in his head.”
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, family and friends had urged leniency, saying he was unlikely to re-offend once more. Additionally they mentioned FTX’s buyers have largely recovered their funds — a declare disputed by chapter legal professionals, FTX and its collectors.
“Mr. Bankman-Fried continues to dwell a lifetime of delusion,” wrote John Ray, the CEO of FTX who has been cleansing up the bankrupt firm.
“The ‘enterprise’ he left on November 11, 2022 was neither solvent nor secure.”
Two weeks in the past, Mukasey attacked a probation workplace suggestion of 100 years in jail, saying a sentence of that size could be “grotesque” and “barbaric”.
He urged the decide to condemn Bankman-Fried to a time period of 5 to 6 and a half years in jail, which Mukasey mentioned was a good studying of federal sentencing pointers.
Bankman-Fried was price billions of {dollars} on paper because the co-founder and CEO of FTX, which was the second-largest cryptocurrency change on this planet at one time.
FTX allowed buyers to purchase dozens of digital currencies, from Bitcoin to extra obscure ones like Shiba Inu Coin. Flush with billions of {dollars} of buyers’ money, Bankman-Fried took out a Tremendous Bowl commercial to advertise his enterprise and acquired the naming rights to an enviornment in Miami.
However the collapse of cryptocurrency costs in 2022 took its toll on FTX, and finally led to its downfall. FTX’s hedge fund affiliate, often called Alameda Analysis, had purchased billions of {dollars} of varied crypto investments that misplaced appreciable quantities of worth in 2022. Bankman-Fried tried to plug the holes in Alameda’s stability sheet with FTX buyer funds.
Three different individuals from Bankman-Fried’s inside circle pleaded responsible to associated crimes and testified at his trial.
The largest title among the many three was Caroline Ellison, as soon as the girlfriend of Bankman-Fried. Ellison described Bankman-Fried as a calculating particular person who knew that he was seemingly committing crimes when he directed using buyer funds.
Two different onetime pals of Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, additionally testified they felt they had been directed by Bankman-Fried to commit fraud.