Some notable developments and commentary on Sam Bankman-Fried's coming sentencing

Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled to be sentenced three weeks from today, and his sentencing memo filed last week has already generated considerable comments (some covered here).  As we await the government's filing next week, I have seen a few recent notable developments and commentary that seemed worth flagging here (with links from the original):

From CoinPedia, "Sam Bankman-Fried Fights for Leniency: Will He Face 100 Years in Prison?".  An excerpt:

In an unexpected turn, a compelling letter has been submitted, urging Judge Kaplan to take a firm stance against leniency for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), co-founder of FTX. Emotions run high as the letter passionately argues against what it sees as “intellectual dishonesty” in pleas for leniency, especially regarding possible reimbursements for account holders.  The letter, written by a CBOE member on behalf of a market maker firm, sharply criticizes SBF’s alleged financial misconduct, describing a situation where funds are claimed to be stolen, gambled, and only partially recovered.

From Puck, "S.B.F.’s Sentencing Game Theory: Bankman-Fried’s lawyers appear to be setting the stage to appeal his sentence—and potentially redefine the definition of fraud, itself."  An excerpt:

Even if the six-year bid doesn’t sway Kaplan himself, its real purpose is likely to set the appellate stage — where Bankman-Fried will argue he was denied a fair trial when Kaplan prevented him from presenting his honest intentions with FTX.  As a fallback, he’ll attempt to convince the higher-ups to take a “textualist” approach to criminal sentencing.

From Slate, "The FTX Saga Twist That Might Save SBF in Sentencing: He could still get up to a century in prison."

So, to recap: In Bankman-Fried’s favor, it looks like his crimes may not wind up wiping out thousands of investors. But working against him is a long pattern of behavior that seems designed in a lab to infuriate a judge, who may also choose to lean on a presentencing report that says to throw the book at Bankman-Fried. “I think it’s hard to predict, but I’d be surprised if it weren’t a significant sentence,” [former AUSA Rachel] Maimin said.  Bankman-Fried is in danger of learning that there isn’t exactly a good way to come up for sentencing on seven federal felonies."

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"