Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, convicted for the collapse of FTX, are requesting a 6.5-year prison sentence, against the 100 years recommended by the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR).
Sam Bankman-Fried from FTX: the request for 6.5 years in prison vs. the 100 years of the PSR
Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers (or SBF) have opposed the Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) recommending a 100-year prison sentence for the founder of the collapsed crypto-exchange FTX.
Actually, the defense lawyers request a prison sentence not exceeding 6.5 years for SBF, who was convicted last November on seven different charges.
Basically, next month Bankman-Fried will be sentenced, and, according to the document submitted to the Court, the lawyers are asking for a “fair” sentence for their client. This sentence should consider a conviction of 63 to 78 months in prison.
Actually, for lawyers, the recommendation of the PSR of 100 years in prison as a sentence for SBF has been described as “grotesque”.
The conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy against Bankman-Fried, had arrived last November 2023, just one year after the collapse of FTX.
Sam Bankman-Fried and the request for a 6.5-year prison sentence: the lawyers’ motivation
From what emerges from the document, the new lawyers of SBF, Marc Mukasey and Torrey Young, ask the Court to consider applying an “appropriate method to reach a fair judgment”.
Here is how lawyers justify their request:
“Sam is a thirty-one-year-old, first-time offender, non-violent, who was accompanied in the conduct in question by at least four other guilty individuals, in a case where the victims are ready to recover – they have always been ready to recover – one hundred cents of a dollar”
Continuing, the lawyers ask to consider that the level of crime is based on “zero loss”, which would lead to “a range of advisory guidelines of 63-78 months”.
With “zero loss”, Mukasey and Young mean that there is no damage to clients, financiers, and investors, as the bankruptcy estate of FTX plans to fully reimburse everyone.
In this regard, it has been highlighted that the bankruptcy estate of FTX claims to have assets of around 10 billion dollars, against the 8 billion dollar hole of the crypto-exchange.
Following this, the lawyers have also included documents demonstrating the good conduct and positive aspects of SBF, including charitable works. In this way, the lawyers are trying to refute the claims that Bankman-Fried is a sociopath and manipulator.
Along with official documents, the lawyers have included letters of support from friends and family, as well as from former FTX internal psychiatrist, George Lerner, and others.
The case of SBF’s parents
At the beginning of this 2024, Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents, had asked the Court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by FTX for the recovery of funds.
Basically, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both professors at Stanford Law School, have stated that there is no fiduciary relationship with the collapsed crypto-exchange.
For them, in fact, it is not enough for FTX to claim that the parents “knew or should have known” in order to accuse them. In fact, the parents argue that the crypto-exchange should have shown evidence proving that the parents “knew that certain actions would result in a breach of fiduciary duty”.
The court deposit refers to the September 2023 report made by FTX, in which it alleges that the two parents transferred funds fraudulently.