Denied: SBF Final-Minute Bid For Delay Thwarted By Decide Forward Of Sentencing Interview

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, or generally SBF, had requested Decide Lewis Kaplan to postpone his sentence listening to for 4 to 6 weeks, however the choose dismissed his request.

Attorneys for Bankman-Fried’s protection mentioned that extra time is required to collect proof for the sentencing submission and to be prepared for the pre-sentencing interview, which is ready for December 21.

Lawyer Mark Cohen of Cohen & Gresser submitted a letter on December twentieth, requesting a postponement of the sentencing listening to slated for March 28, 2024, and his presentencing interview scheduled for Thursday, December twenty first.

SBF: Delaying Techniques

Bankman-Fried’s authorized counsels additionally sought to benefit from the extra time to prepare for any costs that is likely to be dropped from the primary trial; a retrial is ready for March 11. The attorneys proposed January 5, 2024, and February 2, 2024, because the scheduled dates for disclosures associated to the presentence investigation report.

Letter requesting adjournment in Bankman-Fried's sentencing. Supply: Court docket Listener

Cohen acknowledged that the protection has not heard again from the federal government regardless of reaching out to them to request their consent. He additionally identified that this was the primary try of SBF to have the listening to postponed.

No Extra Extension, Decide Says

Kaplan forbade alterations to the timetable, and famous that Bankman-Fried had already been granted one extension to file his sentencing statements, and the protection had not objected to the date of sentencing when it was established.

In the course of the second trial, the prosecution alleged that Bankman-Fried participated in an illegal marketing campaign financing conspiracy by donating round $100 million to politicians. Following the Bahamas’ refusal to extradite Bankman-Fried on the cost, the federal government subsequently dropped the fees.

As of at the moment, the market cap of cryptocurrencies reached $1.5 trillion. Chart: TradingView.com

However, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys contended that sentence ought to start out as quickly because the withdrawn counts are settled. Cohen proposed that it will be simply and environment friendly to mix all related conduct right into a single sentence listening to if the trial on the separated counts takes place on March 11.

Nov. 2 noticed the conviction of Bankman-Fried on all counts pertaining to fraud and different offenses at FTX and Alameda Analysis, a sister firm.

Not Responsible Plea

Following his not responsible plea to all costs and his insistence on his innocence following the jury’s ruling, Bankman-Fried made an effort to disassociate himself from essential selections, attributing varied features and danger administration errors to different executives.

Despite the fact that the previous FTX CEO would possibly obtain a most sentence of 110 years in jail, many authorized specialists predict a a lot decrease time period. In response to sure calculations, he would possibly spend much less time behind bars than 25 years.

Damian Williams, the US Lawyer for the Southern District of New York, referred to as the offenses made by SBF “a multibillion-dollar scheme aimed to make him the king of crypto” and thought of them to be among the many largest monetary scams in American historical past.

Different important FTX officers entered responsible pleas to a variety of crimes and testified towards SBF all through the trial. These executives included former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh.

Featured picture from Pixabay