Crypto users weigh in on Sam Bankman-Fried’s jail time ahead of sentencing

Attorneys representing Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried are expected to file their sentencing for the former FTX CEO on February 27, and they have ideas for crypto users.

In the year On Nov. 3, a jury found Banman-Fried guilty of seven felony counts, some of which carry up to 20 years in prison. Judge Lewis Kaplan will receive sentencing arguments from SBF's lawyers on February 27 and prosecutors on March 15 and decide the fate of the former FTX CEO.

SBF faces up to 110 years in prison if the former CEO is convicted of two felony counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of securities fraud conspiracy and one count of money laundering. Sentence However, as many attorneys and former prosecutors pointed out following Banman-Fried's conviction, judges cannot impose the maximum sentence except in exceptional circumstances.

“I wouldn't be surprised if SBF spends the next 20 to 25 years in prison,” Renato Mariotti, a former prosecutor in the US Department of Justice's securities fraud division, was quoted as saying in December. Attorney Devin James Stone, who runs the YouTube channel LegalEagle, also weighed in on Bankenman-Fried after his conviction.

“[T]”The main factors are the scale of the crimes and the amounts stolen and the criminal history of the defendant,” Stone said in the Nov. 14 video. “Bankman-Fried has no criminal record, but it's clear the scale of the fraud was huge, and he lied and tried to cover it all up, so if the truth is true, Judge Kaplan could have sentenced him to 15 to 25 years in prison and restitution. He said.

Bankman-Fried was originally scheduled for a second trial in March to address five additional charges, but prosecutors announced in December that they intended to proceed. The filing suggests that SBF may be looking at a stiff sentence, along with a conviction and compensation for FTX victims, because the government is willing to waive retrying it.

“[T]The additional counts contain much of the same evidence presented in the original trial. “And importantly, a second trial does not affect the defendant's range within the United States' sentencing guidelines because the court can consider all of this behavior as relevant when sentencing the defendant on the charges on which he was convicted in the first trial.”

“Scumbag doesn't deserve life, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't get at least 20 years,” X user Baty said in a Feb. 27 post on Bankman-Fried. “Gary Wang has a low profile but is just as guilty as SBF, he should get equal time. Caroline Ellison should get at least 5 years.

Related: What's next for ‘crypto king' Sam Bankman-Fried?

The former FTX CEO last appeared in court on February 21, when he waived conflicts of interest to lawyers representing him and former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky. Christian Everdale and Mark Cohen, who represented SBF in the criminal trial, withdrew from the case before the sentencing hearing.

Bankman-Fried will be the first among four other former FTX executives to stand trial in connection with the same document. Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, former FTX Digital Markets CEO Ryan Salame and former FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh all pleaded guilty. Salame is to be sentenced on May 1.

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