Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team has submitted several last-minute letters of support for the disgraced FTX founder in hopes of leniency at his March 28 sentencing, court documents filed Wednesday reveal.
Supportive Pleas Surface as Sam Bankman-Fried Awaits Sentence
Spanning from Sam Bankman-Fried’s friends from MIT to parents with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the latest letters addressed to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan go as far as to call the FTX founder a “kind” and “wonderful person.”
“The hope that customer funds will be reimbursed in some measure mitigates the severity of Sam’s guilt, and it seems the length of his sentence should reflect this fact,” the parent of an FTX customer who lost their life savings on the doomed crypto exchange wrote.
“Though I have never met Sam, I firmly believe that while he may be an MIT grad – he did not fully understand the scope of what was going on and did not have malicious intent,” said a mother of a son with ASD.
SBF sentencing this week.
How much time do you think he deserves in jail? I feel kind of bad for him tbh
— Raffs (@sol_flex69) March 27, 2024
Sam Bankman-Fried is facing a potential maximum penalty of over 100 years in federal prison following his November 2023 whirlwind trial that saw the FTX founder convicted on seven different fraud charges.
His lawyers have since requested a maximum prison sentence of six years for orchestrating the $8 billion digital asset fraud, citing his ASD and “genuine concern” for others.
Prosecution Counters with Strong Rebuke to SBF’s Support Letters
Shortly after Bankman-Fried’s legal team filed additional letters on the FTX founder’s behalf pushing for leniency on Wednesday, prosecutors submitted their own court filings in the form of additional victim impact statements.
“My whole life has been destroyed,” one FTX depositor wrote, stating that he “did not agree to the risk that Sam Bankman-Fried took” with his funds.
“Sam Bankman-Fried’s callous disregard for the impact of his actions on individuals like myself, who have diligently worked to build a future, is reprehensible and deserving of maximum sentencing,” wrote another.
How Long Will Bankman-Fried Get In Prison?
While Bankman-Fried is facing potentially hefty prison time for his role in FTX’s ultimate collapse, the actual length of his sentence will largely be under the discretion of Judge Kaplan and the court’s recommended guidelines.
“Kaplan’s tough – and he has that reputation – but he’s not nasty,” former U.S. assistant attorney and white-collar crime expert Kevin J. O’Brien said in an interview with Cryptonews. “I don’t think he’s effectively going to put the guy away for the rest of his adult life. He’s going to give him an opportunity to make amends and live a meaningful life outside of prison.”
When asked how long of a prison sentence the FTX founder would get, O’Brien suggested two decades in prison. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam Bankman-Fried got 15 years,” he concluded.
Cryptonews will be reporting live from the courtroom of Bankman-Fried’s March 28 sentencing starting at 9:30 a.m ET.