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March 24, 2024
Rounding up a few sentencing speculations a few days before Sam Bankman-Fried's sentencing
Though we are still a few days from the high-profile sentencing of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, I have already seen some lengthy press pieces discussing the sentencing filings and speculating about how US District Judge Lewis Kaplan with weigh competiting arguments. Here is a round up:
From Business Insider, "FTX's victims may get all their money back. The judge sentencing Sam Bankman-Fried might not care."
From CoinDesk, "U.S. Government's Legal Precedents Don't Support Lengthy Prison Term, Bankman-Fried's Defense Argues"
From Inc., "Is Sam Bankman-Fried a 'Super-Villain' or Just a Bad Trader?"
From Unchained, "SBF’s Prison Sentencing Is Coming Up. How Many Years Will He Get?"
I remain inclined to put the over/under for an imprisonment term here at 25 years, in part because I ccan readily imagine the sentence being somewhat shorter or somewhat longer.
Prior related posts:
- You be the judge: what federal sentence for Sam Bankman-Fried after guilty verdict on seven criminal fraud counts?
- Some early chatter and speculation about Sam Bankman-Fried's coming federal sentencing
- Should a bounce in crypto markets mean a much lower federal sentence for Sam Bankman-Fried?
- Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried in lengthy memo request "a sentence that returns Sam promptly to a productive role in society"
- Some notable developments and commentary on Sam Bankman-Fried's coming sentencing
- Feds argue in sentencing memo that "legitimate purposes of punishment require a sentence of 40 to 50 years’ imprisonment" for Sam Bankman-Fried
March 24, 2024 at 10:14 PM | Permalink
Comments
"May Get All Their Money Back" is a very far cry from "Have Already Got All Their Money Back".
Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Mar 25, 2024 11:42:04 AM
According to the articles, the judge doesn't seem to like him. That's a big deal. I think a sentence of 15-20 years would be plenty. For example, I see SBF as less dangerous than Elizabeth Holmes, whose 11 years were surely too little. But in light of the judge's apparent opinion, I'm guessing we will see the "over" of Doug's 25 year over/under.
Posted by: William Jockusch | Mar 25, 2024 5:41:59 PM
I stand by my prediction of 40 to 50 years. The amounts of money involved are staggering and the dishonesty, the outright stealing of client funds to make private investments and buy a $35 million Bahamian penthouse must be deterred from anyone else who might consider doing what he did. I remind you that my friend Sholam Weiss received a sentence of 845 years, before his sentence was commuted to "time served" (18 years) by his friend Donald Trump. Analogous to SBF's case, because Weiss had been correct in his prediction that troubled mortgages the insurance company (victim) had purchased upon his advice did dramatically increase in value, a U.S. District Judge did find that Weiss's $110 million in restitution had been paid, so the investors in the insurance company lost no money. Weiss is no struggling with the $110 million fine the Judge also imposed upon him, and which he can probably never pay off in toto. That fine is preventing Weiss from getting back into business on Wall Street.
Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 25, 2024 9:03:42 PM
Jim Gormley --
"The amounts of money involved are staggering and the dishonesty, the outright stealing of client funds to make private investments and buy a $35 million Bahamian penthouse must be deterred from anyone else who might consider doing what he did."
Nailed it.
Posted by: bill otis | Mar 25, 2024 10:51:43 PM
