Federal prosecutors urged a New York judge on Friday to impose a sentence of 40 to 50 years in prison for cryptocurrency offenses against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, characterizing them as a “historic fraud.”
Their recommendation was submitted alongside their presentence recommendations to a federal judge who will sentence Bankman-Fried, once celebrated in the cryptocurrency realm for his promotional acumen, including his connections to high-profile individuals willing to endorse his ventures.
Bankman-Fried is slated for sentencing in Manhattan federal court on March 28 following his November conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges.
According to prosecutors, his actions led to losses of at least $10 billion for customers and investors in FTX and its affiliated enterprises between 2017 and 2022.
Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States from the Bahamas in December 2022 after his companies collapsed the previous month. Initially allowed to stay at home with his parents in Palo Alto, California, he was incarcerated last year, just weeks before his trial, following Judge Lewis A. Kaplan's determination that he had attempted to tamper with trial witnesses.
The prosecutors' presentence submission characterized Bankman-Fried's crimes as “one of the largest financial frauds in history, and what is likely the largest fraud in the last decade.”
