Prosecutors Seek 40 to 50-Year Sentence for Sam Bankman-Fried

Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has requested that the court sentence Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of the collapsed FTX, to a prison term of 40 to 50 years.

“With all the advantages of a comfortable childhood, an education at MIT, a prestigious start in finance, and a worthy startup idea, SBF could have led a fruitful, productive, and altruistic life. […] Instead, his recent years have been marked by incredible greed and arrogance, ambition, and rationalization, serving risks and gambling with others’ money,” the statement reads.

Williams noted that even now, Bankman-Fried refuses to admit guilt in what he described as “probably the largest fraud of the past decade.” The former FTX head knew the rules but decided they did not apply to him, the prosecutor added.

“The scale, duration, nature, and sheer number of SBF’s crimes, the harm caused, his willful disregard for the rule of law, and the absence of mitigating circumstances make him exceptionally deserving of a sentence that is sufficiently severe to ensure justice for his crimes and deter others from similar conduct,” the memo states.

The prosecutor described Bankman-Fried’s unwillingness to admit guilt and show remorse as “staggering.” He also compared the FTX founder’s crimes to the financial fraud of Bernie Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years in prison in 2009.

“Like Madoff, the defendant misappropriated victims’ funds and invested them in real estate, stocks, and other less liquid assets for his own benefit. Many assets will be recovered and liquidated to compensate for the damage, but this is due to the bankruptcy administrators. The recoveries do not affect the determination of the loss amount for sentencing,” Williams explained.

Back in late February, SBF’s lawyer Mark Mukasey requested a sentence of 63 to 78 months in prison for his client, calling the proposed life sentence too “grotesque.”

The court received 29 letters in support of Bankman-Fried asking for leniency in his future sentencing, including from family members and a cellmate.

On November 2, 2023, SBF was found guilty on seven counts of money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy. He faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 28.