A federal appeals court has denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s bid to overturn his fraud conviction, cementing the 25-year prison sentence handed down following the $8 billion collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
On June 12, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Bankman-Fried, upholding his 2023 conviction on seven felony counts that included wire fraud and conspiracy. The decision closes off what had been his most viable path to freedom, and delivers a measure of finality to one of the largest financial fraud cases in history.
Bankman-Fried’s defense had argued that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan wrongly kept out evidence at trial that purportedly demonstrated FTX’s ability to remain solvent and honor customer withdrawals.
Prosecutors countered with testimony from Bankman-Fried’s former lieutenants, who said he personally directed the misappropriation of customer funds to cover losses at his trading firm, Alameda Research.
The appeals court sided with the original ruling.
FTX’s collapse in late 2022 wiped out billions in value across digital asset markets and triggered a wave of regulatory scrutiny that reshaped the industry.
Bankman-Fried is currently serving his sentence at a low-security federal prison near Santa Barbara, with a projected release date of 2044.
Further appeals to the full Second Circuit or the Supreme Court remain theoretically possible, though legal observers consider the odds steep.
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