Sam Bankman-Fried, once the golden boy of crypto and the brain behind FTX, has been at the center of a legal storm since his exchange imploded in 2022. His trial wrapped up last year with a bang—a guilty verdict on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, pinning him for siphoning off about $10 billion in customer cash.
The sentence? A hefty 25 years in prison, handed down by Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court on March 28, 2024, plus an $11 billion forfeiture to make up for the wreckage he left behind.
The courtroom drama was something else. Prosecutors painted SBF as a calculated fraudster who funneled FTX customer funds into risky bets at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, splurged on luxe Caribbean digs, and even tossed millions into political donations. His defense tried to spin him as an awkward math nerd who got in over his head, not a scheming mastermind. But the jury wasn’t buying it—after just four hours of deliberation, they sealed his fate in November 2023.
Things didn’t stop there. Before the trial even kicked off, the DOJ had him locked up in August 2023, accusing him of witness tampering—namely leaking private writings from ex-girlfriend and Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison to the New York Times to trash her cred. That move got his bail revoked, landing him in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, where his team later griped he couldn’t prep properly due to staffing woes.
Fast forward to now, February 2025, and SBF’s not done fighting. Last September, he filed a 102-page appeal, crying foul over Judge Kaplan’s handling of the case. His lawyers argue the judge botched rulings on his “advice-of-counsel” defense—claiming FTX lawyers greenlit some of the shady moves—and rushed the jury into a snap verdict. They’re pushing for a new trial with a fresh judge, saying the public and court pegged him guilty from the jump. Whether that’ll fly with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals? Too early to call, but it’s keeping the saga alive.
The ripple effects are still hitting. Ellison, a star witness who flipped on SBF, got two years in September 2024 for her role, with prosecutors cutting her a break for spilling the beans. Victims—over a million creditors—are still clawing for their cash, though some analysts say FTX’s leftover assets might soften the blow. Meanwhile, the crypto world’s watching, wondering if this is a cautionary tale or just another wild chapter in its rollercoaster ride.
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