Lawyers for disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried say prosecutors’ sentencing recommendations for their client are “disturbing.”
In a new letter addressed to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys say the sentencing recommendation is draconian and labels the former CEO a “supervillain.”
“The government memorandum is disturbing.
With clear hostility, the memorandum twists reality to support the precious “loss” narrative and portrays Sam as a depraved supervillain; it attributes dark and megalomaniac motives to him that contradict the record; it makes apocalyptic prophecies about recidivism; and it adopts a medieval view of punishment to arrive at what amounts to a recommendation for the death penalty in prison. That is not justice.”
Earlier this week, prosecutors in the case recommended a prison sentence of 40 to 50 years for Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty in October of defrauding investors and mishandling customer funds in connection with the crypto exchange’s collapse FTX in November 2022.
The lawyers explain this by saying the government is choosing to ignore that FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings “will result in customers and lenders being healed,” portraying Bankman-Fried as a “monster” and his affinity to re-offend is exaggerated.
The letter concludes by saying that the prosecutor’s intention to keep Bankman-Fried behind bars for so long simply because he could theoretically commit fraud again is terrifying.
“At 32, the government wants to break Sam Bankman-Fried. They completely ignore his condition and vulnerabilities. Instead, they menacingly insist that the sentence imposed must ‘exclude’ him even from ‘being in a position’ where he ‘could’ theoretically commit fraud. That is a horrible interpretation of specific deterrence.”
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