Sam Bankman-Fried is back in NYC jail after appealing
US authorities have returned former cryptocurrency exchange FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried to Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) after a brief stint in a transfer facility in Oklahoma.
In the year As of June 4, federal prison inmate records show Bankman-Fried was being held at MDC Brooklyn after spending about a week at the Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center. Many speculated that authorities planned to transfer the former FTX CEO to a San Francisco Bay Area prison near his parents' California home.
It is unclear what prompted SBF to return to New York. His attorneys have requested that the former FTX CEO remain at MDC Brooklyn to appeal his conviction and sentence. Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, who oversees SBF's criminal trials and sentencing, also suggested they stay in the state.
In the year In November 2023, a jury found Banman-Fried guilty of seven felony counts related to the misappropriation of client funds by FTX and Alameda Research. In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced SBF to 25 years in prison. Bankman-Fried's legal team filed a notice of appeal on April 11. At the time of publication, there was no evidence in the court filing that SBF plans to appeal.
Bankman-Fried was the only person connected to the FTX and Alameda collapse to plead not guilty and appear in court. On May 28, Judge Kaplan sentenced Ryan Salame, the former CEO of Bahamas-based FTX Digital Markets, to 90 months in prison. Other former executives involved in the exchange's collapse — Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh — have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Following the sentencing hearing, Salame posted on social media X for the first time since November 2022. “He suggested publishing the entire memo. [his] During FTX and Alameda. In contrast, Bankman-Fried hasn't posted on X since January 2023 and hasn't spoken much to the media during the trial.
RELATED: Biden, House and Senate vote on SEC anti-crypto crackdown: Legislation passed
Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California, after being sentenced to four months in prison for violating US money laundering laws. Zhao has indicated that he plans to “write something” while in prison, which is expected to be completed by October 2024.
Alex Mashinsky will be the next one-time celebrity in the crypto space to face criminal charges after SBF and Zhao. The former Celsius CEO's criminal trial will begin in January 2025.
Magazine: ‘A Little Shiny' Mashinsky Serves Less Jail Time Than SBF: Inner City Press, X Hall of Flame
