Former FTX Co-CEO Ryan Salame Receives 90-Month Prison Sentence for Felony Charges
Summary:
Former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Ryan Salame, who pleaded guilty to two felony charges, has been sentenced to serve 90 months in federal prison, exceeding the seven-year term recommended by prosecutors. Salame stated he did not plan to leave the US, highlighting the importance of family over anything else. Other former crypto industry executives have also been sentenced to jail with some facing less jail time than the prosecution had requested. A unique aspect in Salame's case was the campaign law violation in an election year, probably influencing the severity of his sentence.
Ryan Salame, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, who had earlier pled guilty to prosecutors, is set to serve over seven years in federal prison. This follows two felony charges where he pleaded guilty. On May 28, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, Lewis Kaplan, assessed the sentencing recommendations from both Salame's attorneys and prosecutors. He subsequently decreed a 90-month imprisonment for the ex-FTX executive. Surprisingly, this term exceeds the recommendation of up to seven years made by prosecutors, and far surpasses Salame's lawyers' plea for 18 months.
In his first interaction with X since November 2022, without being explicit about his sentence, Salame hinted that things were about to become increasingly complicated. Despite these unfolding events, he strongly suggested he had no intentions to abscond, citing the primacy of his family. A court filing from May 14 disclosed that Salame and his partner, Michelle Bond, had a child in November 2023.
Mark Bini, an attorney at Reed Smith and formerly an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, explained to Cointelegraph that Judge Kaplan's 90-month sentence, which overshoots federal prosecutors' recommendation, indicated that he viewed Salame's fraudulent actions at FTX, including a multimillion-dollar campaign finance fraud, as quite severe. He further indicated that Salame's counsel's argument that his document turnover to the government indicated cooperation and remorse didn't sway Judge Kaplan.
Recent times have seen other former prominent crypto industry executives sentenced to jail. The criminal cases of Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried and Changpeng "CZ" Zhao were both presided over by Judge Kaplan who sentenced them to less time than the prosecutors recommended- 25 years and four months respectively, against the recommended 50 years for SBF and 36 months for CZ.
Other people connected to FTX and Alameda Research may face sentencing later this year. These include former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang who all entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with the prosecutors. Evidently, of all these cases, only Salame's involved violations of campaign finance law during an election year, a factor likely contributing to Judge Kaplan's stiffer sentencing. U.S. attorney Damian Williams pointed to Salame's nefarious political campaign which cast aspersions on the credibility of American elections. Sunil Kavuri, a UK national who gave testimonies during Bankman-Fried's trial, inferred that the effects on FTX victims played into Judge Kaplan's decision during sentencing. Prior to Bankman-Fried's sentencing, prosecutors had submitted numerous statements from victims of the crypto exchange collapse.
Bankman-Fried has been detained in Oklahoma, awaiting transfer to a California prison, while Zhao, sentenced on April 30, will be reporting to either an Oregon or Washington facility.
Published At
5/28/2024 11:20:31 PM
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