Sam Bankman-Fried has received a 25-year federal prison sentence for deceiving customers and investors in his failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, as ruled by a Manhattan court on Thursday.
Prior to delivering the sentence, Judge Lewis Kaplan expressed concerns about the potential for Bankman-Fried to commit further harm in the future, stating, “There is a risk that this man will be in a position to do something very bad in the future, and it’s not a trivial risk.”
Kaplan concurred with prosecutors’ assertion that Bankman-Fried aspired to wield significant political influence in the country, which drove his financial misconduct.
While Bankman-Fried’s 25-year sentence falls short of the prosecutors’ request, it places him at the upper end of sentence lengths in prominent white-collar fraud cases.
Notably, Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for orchestrating a $20 billion Ponzi scheme, while Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to over 11 years for defrauding investors.
“SBF may serve as little as 12.5 years if he gets all of the jailhouse credit available to him,” stated Mitchell Epner, a former federal prosecutor.
Moreover, courts may grant early release for compelling reasons, often medical, particularly since the onset of the pandemic.
In addition to the prison term, Bankman-Fried faces a forfeiture of $11.02 billion, intended to be paid over time. However, there will be no restitution due to the impracticality of identifying victims in this case.
Judge Lewis Kaplan recommended that Bankman-Fried be placed in a medium-security facility close to the San Francisco area to facilitate family visits. Bankman-Fried’s parents expressed their distress, stating they would continue to advocate for their son.
