Judge Turns Down Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bid to Adjourn Sentencing Hearing

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s plea for a four-to-six-week postponement of his sentencing hearing. The former CEO of FTX, convicted on seven charges in November, had submitted the request on December 20 via a letter. The proposal aimed to delay the presentencing interview set for December 21 and the sentencing hearing scheduled for March 28, 2024.

Judge Turns Down Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bid to Adjourn Sentencing Hearing

Facing a potential maximum sentence of 110 years in prison, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen, argued that the defense required additional time to prepare for the presentencing interview. They also sought time to address potential charges omitted from the initial trial, with a second trial slated for March 11. The defense proposed disclosure dates for the presentence investigation report on January 5, 2024, and February 2, 2024.

Founder of FTX Exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, Found Guilty of Seven Fraud Counts in a Historic Crypto-Related Financial Scandal

On November 7, Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on all seven counts of fraud, accused of misusing billions in customer funds leading to the collapse of FTX in November 2022. The charges encompass two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of securities fraud, one count of commodities fraud conspiracy, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York characterized Bankman-Fried’s actions as “a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto” and labeled it one of the largest financial frauds in American history.

Several key FTX executives, including former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and former FTX engineering head Nishad Singh, pleaded guilty to various charges and provided testimony against Bankman-Fried during the trial.