Breaking: Judge Sentences FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 Years in Prison, Fined $11 Billion
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and an $11.02 billion fine, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ruled in Manhattan federal courthouse Thursday morning.
Kaplan likened Bankman-Fried’s theft of nearly $8 billion in customer funds to “a game,” where he weighed “the cost of getting caught against the probability of not getting caught.”
“That was his game,” Kaplan said. “It’s in his nature.”
Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven fraud charges in November 2023 after a whirlwind trial that saw the FTX founder testify in his own defense.
In Thursday morning’s ruling, Kaplan called Bankman-Fried’s defense “misleading, logically flawed, and speculative,” saying he had never seen anything like his testimony throughout his entire career
He further analogized the FTX founder’s defense to “a thief who takes his loot to Las Vegas” that believed was “entitled to a discount on stolen winnings” once they were made whole.
“He knew it was wrong,” Kaplan continued. “He knew it was criminal. He regrets making a bad bet against the likelihood of getting caught – and he’s not going to admit a thing.”
A visibly thinner Bankman-Fried was escorted into the courtroom by two security guards in a beige jumpsuit, his hair still in its signature curly mop.
“I know a lot of people feel let down,” Bankman-Fried told the court. “I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry about everything that happened at every stage.”
He went on to apologize to his FTX colleagues, his brother Gabe, and those impacted by the exchange’s collapse, claiming that it “haunts” him everyday and causes him “excruciating guilt.” However,he doubled down on his claim that the exchange “always” had enough assets.
Bankman-Fried’s new lawyer, Marc Mukasey, largely tried
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