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Disgraced crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried has argued that plans to put him behind bars for half a century amount to a “death sentence in prison” and portrays him as a “depraved super-villain”.
The now-defunct FTX co-founder will be sentenced Thursday next week after being found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy by a New York jury in November.
US prosecutors have sought a sentence of 40 to 50 years in prison for what has been described as “one of the largest financial frauds in American history”.
They told the judge who will sentence SBF – as it is widely known – that he had demonstrated “unprecedented greed and hubris” as well as “pernicious megalomania” driven by his ” own values and sense of superiority.
But while the half-century prison term is less than the 100 years recommended by U.S. penal guidelines, it is much longer than the six and a half years suggested by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers.
Justice? Sam Bankman-Fried faces 50 years in prison after being found guilty of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
The defense team called the proposed prosecution “troubling” and said the U.S. government “wants to break” the 32-year-old.
In their brief to the judge, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers wrote: “With marked hostility, the memorandum distorts reality…and presents Sam as a depraved super-villain.”
“He is attributed with dark and megalomaniac motivations which go against the record; he makes apocalyptic prophecies about recidivism; and it adopts a medieval view of punishment to arrive at what amounts to a recommendation for a death sentence in prison. It’s not fair.
Bankman-Fried’s parents — law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried — previously told the judge they feared for their son’s life in prison.
“His father and I face the very real possibility that we will not live to see him released,” his mother wrote. “I would gladly change places with him if I could.”
Bankman-Fried was found guilty after his FTX exchange collapsed.
He was accused of leaving a £6 billion hole in the company’s accounts after siphoning off customers’ money to make risky bets, pay off loans and buy property.