Sam Bankman-Fried (SBT), the founder of FTX, convicted of financial fraud and other crimes, has filed an appeal against his federal conviction and prison sentence. The notice of appeal was filed in court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
The appeal comes after Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence and an order to repay US$11 billion in confiscation, as reported by CriptoFácil.
In November, Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven counts of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy.
Although the charges could have sent him to prison for 110 years, the government recommended a sentence of between 40 and 50 years. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers asked for a sentence of 6.5 years. But at trial, the court decided on a 25-year sentence.
FTX’s Bankman-Fried appeals prison sentence
Following the trial, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX hired a new legal team to handle the appeal.
During the proceedings, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers criticized the jury’s 100-year-old recommendation, describing it as “grotesque.” Already during sentencing, they argued that such a long sentence would prevent Bankman-Fried from leading a meaningful life and contributing to society.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, presiding over the case, ruled that the government’s sentencing recommendation was excessive. So he suggested that the FTX founder serve his sentence in a medium or low security prison near San Francisco to facilitate family visits.
Legal experts estimate he will serve at least 21.25 years in federal custody after an automatic 15% sentence reduction.
FTX’s native token, FTT, appears to have reacted well to the news of Bankman-Fried’s appeal. This is because in the last 24 hours, the cryptoactive jumped around 3%. According to data from CoinGecko, at the time of writing this article, the FTT token is costing US$1.62 – 98% below its all-time high price of US$84.18 reached in September 2021.
Source: https://www.criptofacil.com/fundador-da-ftx-recorre-da-sentenca-de-prisao-de-25-anos/
