The U.S. government has informed Judge Lewis Kaplan that they will not pursue a second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced FTX founder. Evidentiary materials which would have been presented at that trial were already submitted during the November proceedings, where a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty of all seven charges against him after hearing testimony from twenty witnesses.
Prosecutors have revealed that they won't be continuing with a second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former FTX founder. In a statement to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday, the U.S. government mentioned that much of the evidence which would have been shown in the second trial had already been shown in Bankman-Fried's initial criminal trial. In November, following hearing from nearly 20 witnesses, a jury ruled him guilty on all seven criminal counts against him after a few hours of deliberation. Furthermore, prosecutors informed that the Court could take into consideration the hundreds of exhibits admitted during the trial when it passes Bankman-Fried's sentence next year.
Learn more about CNBC's coverage of the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, including details on Starbursts, smuggled coffee and the infamous Martin Shkreli. A verdict was reached in three hours: the government had successfully convicted Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried could receive more than 100 years in prison during his sentencing hearing. Experts speculate on the amount of time Bankman-Fried is likely to serve.
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried was covered by CNBC, focusing on his alleged smuggling of Starbursts, coffee, and Martin Shkreli. After three hours of deliberation, Sam was found guilty. He is faced with up to one hundred and ten years in prison at sentencing. Various experts have given their opinion on the amount of time he is likely to receive.
The Government has indicated its interest in quickly concluding the sentencing for the charges of which the former FTX and Alameda Research executive Bankman-Fried was convicted in his initial trial. The counts included wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Bankman-Fried had pleaded not guilty but was ultimately found guilty at the first trial. Regardless of the outcome of a second trial which had been slated to start in March, and which covered an additional set of charges which included conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and substantive securities fraud and commodities fraud, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range for the defendant would not be affected as the Court can already consider all of this conduct as relevant conduct when sentencing him.
Judge Kaplan will now decide the FTX founder's prison sentence with a sentencing date set for March 28 at 9:30 a.m. ET. He faces a potential maximum of over 100 years in prison.
The jury's unanimous verdict, reached in just a few hours, indicates that all jurors were in agreement and no one needed to be persuaded, noted Yesha Yadav, law professor and Associate Dean at Vanderbilt University. "This agreement should influence the judge to hand down a harsher sentence than a lighter one," Yadav continued. The defendant, SBF, faces a statutory maximum sentence around 115 years, but sentencing guidelines typical give the judge a sliding scale depending on the level of the offenses and the individual's criminal history. Mariotti, a former prosecutor in the U.S. Justice Department's Securities and Commodities Fraud Section, predicted to CNBC, "I wouldn't be surprised if SBF spends the next 20 or 25 years in prison." Mariotti added that because the fraud was very large, Bankman-Fried engaged in deception under oath, and Judge Kaplan was not lenient about his behavior while out on bond, the judge would be more sympathetic to the victims than him.
In August, Judge Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried's bail and sent him back to jail for witness tampering. Mariotti said federal sentencing guidelines indicate the punishment will be severe, but the judge will consider all the surrounding circumstances in regards to Bankman-Fried and his offense. Yadav added that sentencing guidelines look into how many people were affected and how much money was lost, as well as the severity of the damage the defendant caused. He believes the judge may opt for a sentence up to 110 years. According to former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O'Brien, however, Bankman-Fried has the potential for a sentence of 15 to 20 years, given his age. O'Brien also said the judge will likely want to give Bankman-Fried a chance to live a full life after his jail time.
Comparisons have been made between Bankman-Fried's case and that of Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, who was convicted and sentenced to over 11 years in prison. But former federal prosecutor Paul Tuchmann thinks Bankman-Fried will face a tougher penalty given the amount of losses. He likened the case to Bernie Madoff, who was sentenced to 150 years in jail. Yadav agreed, noting that many of the victims in Bankman-Fried's case were not large institutions. But he added that Bankman-Fried’s age could be seen as a mitigating factor and the judge may be looking to leave the door open for the young CEO to make a positive contribution later in life, since his crimes are not violent.
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