SBF lawyer: 50-year sentence belongs to "medieval" view of punishment

Author: Martin Young, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

An attorney representing former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried stated that the maximum sentence for the founder would be 50 years in prison. The proposal invoked a "medieval" view of punishment and did not accurately reflect the seriousness of the offence.

On March 19, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, Marc Mukasey and Torrey Young, wrote to Judge Lewis Kaplan in response to the government’s The sentencing recommendation was handed down on March 15.

"This memo is overtly hostile, distorts reality to support its precious 'loss' narrative, and portrays Sam as a depraved supervillain."

3 On March 15, U.S. prosecutors submitted more documents as well as a sentencing memorandum proposing a 40- to 50-year prison sentence for the former cryptocurrency billionaire, who was convicted in November 2023 on fraud and money laundering charges.

Lawyers claim the proposed sentence adopts a "medieval view of punishment to arrive at a sentencing recommendation equivalent to a death sentence in prison."

“This is not justice,” they added, proposing a reduced sentence of five to six years.

Lawyers made several arguments to justify Bankman-Fried's reduced sentence.

They argued that there was no actual loss because the bankruptcy proceedings would result in all customers and lenders being compensated and the assets remaining in the estate.

In addition,lawyers argue that prosecutors wrongly portrayed Bankman-Fried as a greedy man driven by a desire to maximize his personal wealth, which is inconsistent with his His philanthropy contrasts sharply with his allegedly austere lifestyle.

The pair also questioned the government's assertion that Bankman-Fried is at a higher risk of reoffending, citing data on recidivism rates among educated, white-collar offenders with no criminal records. Lower research.

Finally, Bankman-Fried's attorneys accused prosecutors of making baseless accusations, including accusations that Bankman-Fried evaded responsibility and distorted sentencing data for similar fraud cases.

“We have yet to identify a federal defendant who was released from prison after serving a 40 to 50-year sentence for a nonviolent crime,” they said.

"It was unnecessary to overwhelm Sam in this way."

Mukasey and Young claim Bankman-Fried has lost his personal and professional life "almost everyone and everything" in the case and recommended a reduced sentence of about five to six and a half years.

"If the government truly believes that Sam should be 'free', then the correct guidance range of 63 to 78 months will need to be revised significantly downward."

Nearly a year after FTX collapsed, A jury trial concluded that SBF was guilty of all seven charges brought against him by the U.S. government.