100-year jail term recommended for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, lawyer says ‘grotesque’, ‘barbaric’

“Evil genius”, “greedy villain” or “brilliant, complex and humane person”, whatever Sam Bankman-Fried be considered, the FTX founder who was convicted last November for fraud and conspiracy after his cryptocurrency platform went bust, has attracted a jail recommendation for 100 years.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said Tuesday that the suggested 100-year prison sentence by Probation officers, an arm of the court, is “grotesque” and “barbaric”.

In presentence arguments the FTX founder’s attorney Marc Mukasey said a report by Probation officers improperly calculated federal sentencing guidelines to recommend a sentence just 10 years short of the maximum potential 110-year sentence.

A proper sentence, Mukasey said, would be based on guidelines that would call for between five years and 6 1/2 years in prison, at most.

While the prosecutors’ office did not respond on the matter, Mukasey noted that prosecutors have agreed with the 100-year recommendation and say it was supported by trial evidence.

On March 28, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan will sentence the man prosecutors say cheated investors and customers of at least $10 billion in businesses he controlled from 2017 through 2022.

His FTX trading platform was perceived by some in the cryptocurrency industry as a pioneer before it collapsed into bankruptcy in November 2022, weeks before he was brought to the United States from the Bahamas for trial.