Posted by Christine Han.
This recently published article, “Bankman-Fried’s Pre-Trial Antics Haunt Him Before Sentencing,” was written by Matthew Bultman, who takes a deep dive into the topic at hand. Sam Bankman-Fried has recently spent his time behind bars as he waited for conviction of defrauding FTX customers. Former federal prosecutors believe that Bankman-Fried will receive over 20 years in prison since this is a “high-profile white-collar case” like that of Elizabeth Holmes (who defrauded Theranos Inc. investors). Others suggest that, on the high end, 31-year-old Bankman-Fried can be subject to life in prison. In some cases, the judge could be more lenient, but, apparently, Bankman-Fried “did himself no favors by rankling the judge, both before and during the trial.”
According to District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, Bankman-Fried has “‘shown a willingness and a desire to risk crossing the line in an effort to get right up to it, no matter where the line is.’” In the past, prosecutors had raised concerns about Bankman-Fried’s use of encrypted messaging to contact FTX’s US general counsel, which was flagged as an attempt at witness tampering. Bankman-Fried has continuously denied the accusation of defrauding FTX customers by depicting himself as inexperienced with running a business. Along with these actions, he has also lied on the witness stand.
I believe that, given the amount of money that was involved in this defrauding scheme, Bankman-Fried’s sentencing could be much longer. In fact, as the article mentioned, it is possible for the judge to reduce his sentencing, but it is evident that Bankman-Fried is not on his best behavior. In fact, the article mentions how prosecutors have compared this case to that of Bernie Madoff, “who in 2009 was sentenced to 150 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that lost billions of dollars.” In my opinion, if a sentence this long has occurred before for a case similar to Bankman-Fried, it is very possible for him to receive life in prison.
Christine is a mathmatetical finance and IT management double major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2026.