Former FTX executive Caroline Ellison faces sentencing

abcnews.go.com:

A former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire faces the possibility of years in prison when she is sentenced Tuesday for fraud

NEW YORK — Caroline Ellison, a former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried ’s fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, faces the possibility of years in prison when she is sentenced Tuesday for fraud, but prosecutors said she deserves leniency for her “extraordinary cooperation” as they investigated the company.

Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and testified against Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at a trial last November.

In a court filing, prosecutors said said her testimony was the “cornerstone of the trial” against Bankman-Fried, 32, who was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Asking the court for a lighter sentence, Ellison's own lawyers cited both her testimony at the trial and the trauma of her off-and-on romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried — though they also stressed that she wasn't trying to evade responsibility for her crimes.

“Caroline blames no one but herself for what she did,” her lawyers wrote in a court filing. “She regrets her role deeply and will carry shame and remorse to her grave.”

FTX was one of the world's most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, known for its Superbowl TV ad and its extensive lobbying campaign in Washington, before it collapsed in 2022.

U.S. prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried and other top executives of looting customer accounts on the exchange to make risky investments, make millions of dollars of illegal political donations, bribe Chinese officials and buy luxury real estate in the Caribbean.

Ellison was chief executive at Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency hedge fund controlled by