Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried will serve 25 years in prison after a sentencing hearing in federal court.

On March 28, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sentenced Banman-Fried to 240 months and 60 months, for a total of 25 years, after pleading guilty to seven felony counts. In the year SBF is the first person affiliated with FTX and Alameda Research following the November 2022 exchange crash.

Judge Kaplan found SBF to have committed witness tampering based on the events that led to the August 2023 lien and his testimony at trial against the FTX User Fund. He acknowledged Bankuman-Fried's “social instability,” but according to the testimony of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, the SBF was aware of its wrongdoing and said it “doesn't admit anything.”

“The sentence must be commensurate with the seriousness of the crime,” Judge Kaplan said. “And this was. A. Felony […] When not false, [Bankman-Fried] He was dashing, hair-streaked, trying to get the prosecutor to repeat questions. I have been doing this job for almost 30 years. I have never seen a show like this.”

In a March 28 filing in the Southern District of New York, the judge indicated that SBF would reduce the time he had already served, which would mean 291 months in prison. Judge Kaplan recommended an $11 billion judgment in addition to SBF's prison term. FTX investors lost $1.7 billion, creditors $1.3 billion and customers $8 billion, he said.

According to Inner City Press reporter Matthew Lee, a New York courthouse was crowded with members of the public and officials before U.S. Marshals arraigned Bankman-Fried. The former FTX CEO was reportedly wearing a light brown suit – the uniform of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he was held after a judge revoked his bail.

“I reject the defense's argument about bankruptcy on both the law and the facts,” Judge Kaplan said, according to the Inner City Press. “Claims that customers and creditors will be paid in full are misleading — defendants equate dollar amounts in bankruptcy cases.”

The judge added:

“A positive effect on the value of some cryptocurrencies has nothing to do with the severity of the crimes committed. A thief who takes the loot to Las Vegas and bets successfully is not entitled to a reduced sentence.

Before the judge announced the sentence, Banman-Fried said, “FTX would have survived” if he had not been “sorry for what happened at every level.” In a final statement, the lawyers seem to describe the former FTX CEO as a misunderstood genius:

“Sam was not a ruthless financial serial killer. He was not a hunter. He makes his decision based on math in his head, not malice in his heart.

Sunil Kavuri, a British citizen who flew in from London for the trial, testified that he had “suffered for two years” after the FTX collapse. Kavuri spoke to the court on behalf of other FTX victims, pushing back against the narrative that “there was zero fault” and that the exchange was based on a plan to pay.

“If Mr. Banman-Fried thought the math was right, he would have done it again,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Rouse said. He added that there was no “acceptance of responsibility” from the former CEO.

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Judge Kaplan's sentence essentially split the difference between recommendations from SBF's lawyers and prosecutors, who argued for a maximum of 6.5 and 50 years, respectively. Many experts predicted that Judge Kaplan would impose a sentence of 10 to 30 years, depending on the facts of the case and the amount of money involved.

Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh and Ryan Salameh — four other individuals connected to FTX and Alameda who were indicted on the same charges as SBF — pleaded guilty and accepted deals. Salameh, the former CEO of FTX Digital Markets, was the only one of the four who did not testify at Bankman Fried's criminal trial. He could be the next person to face sentencing on May 1.

Magazine: ‘A Little Shiny' Mashinsky Serves Less Jail Time Than SBF: Inner City Press, X Hall of Flame

Update (March 28, 6:40 p.m. UTC): This article has been updated to include information about Sam Bankman-Fried's time at sentencing.