How Many Years Will Sam Bankman-Fried Really Spend in Prison
3 min read
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be sentenced next week. The charge carries a maximum total sentence of over 100 years in prison – but what sentence will he actually receive?
In the defense’s sentencing recommendation released late last month, Bankman-Fried’s camp pushed for a maximum sentence of just over six years, citing his age and “genuine concern” for other people.
SBF faces a life sentence
In their own sentencing recommendation published shortly afterwards, prosecutors argued that a six-year prison sentence would be “woefully inaccurate” and “send the wrong message to the defendant,” to others, those contemplating fraud, to victims and to society at large,” and recommended a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years for the FTX fraudster.
“Bankman-Fried’s crimes were serious and prolonged, causing billions of dollars in losses and significant financial and emotional harm to tens of thousands of victims,” prosecutors argued. ”The sheer magnitude of the loss in this case, and the fact that the loss came in the form of the theft of victims’ money, places Bankman-Fried in a category of defendants for whom sentences of forty years or more are appropriate.” (* ) However, Kevin J. O’Brien, a former assistant U.S. attorney and white-collar crime expert, believes none of these verdicts are likely since the presiding judge is Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
“Kaplan is tough – and he has that reputation – but he’s not evil,” O’Brien said in an interview with Cryptonews. “I don’t think he’s going to put the guy away for the rest of his adult life. It will give him the opportunity to make amends and lead a meaningful life outside of prison.”
In its sentencing recommendation, the defense sought to compare Bankman-Fried to philanthropist-turned-junk-bond king Michael Milken and Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes, who each received 11 and seven years in prison, respectively.
Sorry, but this is psychotic. I understand that Sam Bankman-Fried is completely unlikeable. But there’s no good reason why taxpayers should have to keep him in a cage until he’s in his 80s. We have become completely desensitized to excessive prison sentences in this country. https://t.co/5BHW7lCTDX
— Billy Binion (@billybinion) March 15, 2024
However, O’Brien isn’t sure these settlements will necessarily work under the law.
“These are smart arguments, but there are differences between his case and these cases,”
said O’Brien, noting that “the extent of the harm in his case was much higher.” Similarly, O’Brien pointed out that Milken’s “good deeds” came only after his “release from prison.”
“It’s pretty difficult for Bankman-Fried to rely on that before he’s even sentenced,” O’Brien continued.
O’Brien’s comments come amid the March 20 appointment of Unabomber prosecutor Robert J. Cleary by a U.S. bankruptcy judge to the FTX collapsed to investigate its potential conflicts of interest with the law firm Sullivan and Cromwell.
FTX’s current CEO, John J. Ray III, has been vocal in his opposition to approving an independent auditor, citing current management’s independence from FTX scammers.
“There is a certain amount of politics here because management is responsible for this mess,” O’Brien said of the legal saga, calling it “a very big problem.”
In addition to the parties’ sentencing recommendations Kaplan must follow the U.S. government’s federal sentencing guidelines. If he imposes a sentence on Bankman-Fried that is too much lower than the recommended sentence, the government could appeal his decision.
“Of course, Kaplan probably doesn’t care,” O’Brien said. “He will do what he thinks is right.”
When asked how long Bankman-Fried’s prison sentence might be, O’Brien replied that he envisioned a prison sentence of up to two decades for the former “King of Cryptocurrencies “I could imagine.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Sam Bankman-Fried got 15 years,” he estimated.
The FTX founder is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28 in Manhattan.
The results of Cleary’s independent investigation must be submitted to the court within 60 days.
