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NEW YORK -- Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years successful situation for a monolithic fraud that unraveled with the illness of FTX, erstwhile 1 of the world's astir fashionable platforms for exchanging integer currency.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted successful November of fraud and conspiracy - a melodramatic autumn from a crest of occurrence that included a Super Bowl advertisement and personage endorsements from stars similar backmost Tom Brady, hoops prima Stephen Curry and comedian Larry David.
U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan imposed the condemnation successful the aforesaid Manhattan courtroom where, 4 months ago, Bankman-Fried testified that his volition had been to revolutionize the emerging cryptocurrency marketplace with his innovative and altruistic ideas, not to steal.
Kaplan said the condemnation reflected "that determination is simply a hazard that this antheral volition beryllium successful presumption to bash thing precise atrocious successful the future. And it's not a trivial hazard astatine all." He added that it was "for the intent of disabling him to the grade that tin appropriately beryllium done for a important play of time."
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted successful November of fraud and conspiracy - a melodramatic autumn from a twelvemonth earlier erstwhile helium and his companies seemed to beryllium riding a crest of occurrence that resulted successful a Super Bowl advertisement and personage endorsements from stars similar backmost Tom Brady and comedian Larry David.
Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried had outgo customers, investors and lenders implicit $10 cardinal by misappropriating billions of dollars to substance his quest for power and dominance successful the caller industry, and had illegally utilized wealth from FTX depositors to screen his expenses, which included purchasing luxury properties successful the Caribbean, alleged bribes to Chinese officials and backstage planes.
Kaplan agreed with prosecutors Thursday that Bankman-Fried should not get leniency conscionable due to the fact that immoderate investors and customers mightiness get immoderate of their mislaid wealth back. He called the statement "logically flawed" and "speculative." He said customers mislaid astir $8 billion, investors mislaid $1.7 cardinal and lenders were shorted by $1.3 billion.
Kaplan besides cited 3 instances wherever helium concluded that Bankman-Fried committed perjury during his proceedings testimony, including erstwhile Bankman-Fried testified that helium didn't cognize until conscionable weeks earlier FTX collapsed into bankruptcy that lawsuit funds were being diverted to a hedge money offshoot of FTX.
Given a accidental to speak, Bankman-Fried stood and apologized successful a rambling statement, saying: "A batch of radical consciousness truly fto down. And they were precise fto down. And I'm atrocious astir that. I'm atrocious astir what happened astatine each stage."
He added that, "My utile beingness is astir apt over. It's been implicit for a portion now, from earlier my arrest."
Defense lawyer Marc Mukasey said his lawsuit was misunderstood.
"Sam was not a ruthless fiscal serial slayer who acceptable retired each greeting to wounded people," Mukasey said. "Sam Bankman-Fried doesn't marque decisions with malice successful his heart. He makes decisions with mathematics successful his head."
A assemblage recovered that Bankman-Fried illegally utilized wealth from FTX depositors to screen his lavish spending, which authorities said included buying luxury properties successful the Caribbean, flying connected backstage jets, making outsized charitable donations and contributions to governmental candidates and paying bribes to Chinese officials.
Prosecutors had recommended a situation condemnation of 40 to 50 years.
"The suspect victimized tens of thousands of radical and companies, crossed respective continents, implicit a play of aggregate years. He stole wealth from customers who entrusted it to him; helium lied to investors; helium sent fabricated documents to lenders; helium pumped millions of dollars successful amerciable donations into our governmental system; and helium bribed overseas officials. Each of these crimes is worthy of a lengthy sentence," prosecutors said successful a tribunal filing.
Bankman-Fried's attorneys, friends and household had urged leniency, saying helium was improbable to re-offend again. They besides said FTX's investors person mostly recovered their funds - a assertion disputed by bankruptcy lawyers, FTX and its creditors.
"Mr. Bankman-Fried continues to unrecorded a beingness of delusion," wrote John Ray, the CEO of FTX who has been cleaning up the bankrupt company. "The 'business' helium near connected November 11, 2022 was neither solvent nor safe."
Two weeks ago, Mukasey attacked a probation bureau proposal of 100 years successful prison, saying a condemnation of that magnitude would beryllium "grotesque" and "barbaric."
He urged the justice to condemnation Bankman-Fried to a word of 5 to 6 1/2 years successful prison, which Mukasey said was a just speechmaking of national sentencing guidelines.
"Sam is not the 'evil genius' depicted successful the media oregon the greedy villain described astatine trial," Mukasey said, calling his lawsuit a "first-time, non-violent offender."
Bankman-Fried was worthy billions of dollars connected insubstantial arsenic the co-founder and CEO of FTX, which was the second-largest cryptocurrency speech successful the satellite astatine 1 time.
FTX allowed investors to bargain dozens of virtual currencies, from Bitcoin to much obscure ones similar Shiba Inu Coin. Flush with billions of dollars of investors' cash, Bankman-Fried took retired a Super Bowl advertisement to beforehand his concern and bought the naming rights to an arena successful Miami.
But the illness of cryptocurrency prices successful 2022 took its toll connected FTX, and yet led to its downfall. FTX's hedge money affiliate, known arsenic Alameda Research, had bought billions of dollars of assorted crypto investments that mislaid sizeable amounts of worth successful 2022. Bankman-Fried tried to plug the holes successful Alameda's equilibrium expanse with FTX lawsuit funds.
Three different radical from Bankman-Fried's interior ellipse pleaded blameworthy to related crimes and testified astatine his trial.
The biggest sanction among the 3 was Caroline Ellison, erstwhile the woman of Bankman-Fried. Ellison described Bankman-Fried arsenic a calculating idiosyncratic who knew that helium was apt committing crimes erstwhile helium directed the usage of lawsuit funds. Two different onetime friends of Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, besides testified they felt they were directed by Bankman-Fried to perpetrate fraud.
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