FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years for Historic Fraud

Judge Lewis Kaplan said he felt Bankman-Fried needed to have a long sentence because of his approach to viewing actions in terms of “expected value.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, marking an end to one of the largest criminal fraud cases in history. The sentence was handed down by Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Southern District of New York on March 28. 

In making his determination, Judge Lewis Kaplan said he felt Bankman-Fried needed to have a long sentence because of his approach to viewing actions in terms of “expected value,” i.e., based on the probability of an event occurring and its potential cost or payoff. Otherwise, the judge felt Bankman-Fried might do something like this again.

Kaplan also cited Bankman-Fried’s lack of contrition.

“He knew it was wrong,” Kaplan said, according to Reuters. “He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught. But he is not going to admit a thing, as is his right.”

Bankman-Fried’s sentencing comes after a jury found him guilty in November on seven counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and violations of campaign finance laws. This verdict was the result of the Department of Justice’s extensive investigation into the collapse of FTX, which was once hailed as a revolutionary force in the cryptocurrency market, as well as that of Alameda Research, FTX’s sister hedge fund. 

“This sentence balances the need to punish SBF for a fraud of epic proportions and deter others from emulating his crime, while at the same time giving SBF a light at the end of tunnel—an opportunity to be redeemed and return to society at an older, and hopefully wiser age,” Sam Enzer, a partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, told Unchained.

Enzer also said he felt the sentence was an important moment for the crypto industry as a whole.

“The sentence puts behind us a dark chapter and shows that our society has taken meaningful steps to purge the cryptocurrency sector of bad actors like SBF, to clear the way for the many honest entrepreneurs and technology developers seeking in good faith to innovate and build a brighter future for all of us with the transformative promise of blockchain technology,” Enzer said.

Prosecutors had called for a sentence of 40 to 50 years, citing the “extraordinary dimensions” of Bankman-Fried’s crimes, which victimized tens of thousands across the globe over several years, as well as his failure to accept responsibility for his actions. Bankman-Fried’s defense team argued for a more lenient six-year sentence, countering the depiction of him as a villain and asserting that the financial impact of FTX’s collapse was overstated, with bankruptcy proceedings likely to make victims whole (a claim that FTX’s current CEO, John J. Ray, III, forcefully denied in his own letter to the court.)

Read more: What to Expect from Sam Bankman-Fried’s Sentencing – and the Lessons We Should Learn

A Swift Guilty Verdict 

The case against Bankman-Fried outlined a complex web of deceit, involving taking $8 billion in customer and investor funds and using them for real estate purchases, venture investments, political donations, and charitable donations. Prosecutors painted a picture of a fraud that spanned multiple years and affected tens of thousands of victims across several continents. Despite the defense’s attempts to mitigate the severity of his actions, the overwhelming evidence led to a swift guilty verdict on all counts.

Throughout the trial, Bankman-Fried maintained his innocence and never admitted to any wrongdoing. His testimony, however, did little to aid his case, as his credibility was further undermined by the testimonies of several former associates who, after plea-bargaining, testified against him and revealed the inner workings of the scheme.

Read more: Where Is Sam Bankman-Fried Likely to Serve His Prison Term?

Fall of a Titan

Since August 2023, Sam Bankman Fried has been held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Prior to that he had been held under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto. This initial leniency was revoked, however, after Bankman-Fried was found to have tampered with witnesses in the case, including his ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison. 

Read more: Sam Bankman-Fried Whisperer Tiffany Fong Spills Some Tea

Sam Bankman-Fried was originally arrested in the Bahamas at the behest of U.S. authorities in December 2022. The arrest followed an eight-count indictment that laid bare the extent of his alleged crimes, leading to a swift extradition and the beginning of a legal battle that would conclude with his recent sentencing. One count, that of bribing foreign officials, was dropped before trial, but was to be included in a second trial of six additional charges, which prosecutors decided not to pursue after their unanimous victory in the first trial.

Prior to his arrest and the collapse of FTX, the crypto exchange that he co-founded, Sam Bankman-Fried was one of the world’s most notable crypto personalities and the world’s youngest billionaire.