Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried denied sentencing extension
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried isn’t getting a sentencing extension for the holidays, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled on Wednesday.
Counsel for Bankman-Fried filed a letter early Wednesday seeking a “short four to six-week adjournment of the sentencing hearing in the above-captioned case.”
Sentencing for Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty on seven charges back in November, is scheduled for March 28. He faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that they needed “additional time to collect materials necessary for the sentencing submission and to prepare for the presentence interview.” It also sought to utilize the extra time to prepare for the government to possibly proceed with another set of charges, which they dropped from the initial trial.
The second trial is currently set for March 11, if the government chooses to proceed with the counts. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which allege that Bankman-Fried gave around $100 million to politicians.
Read more: How long could Bankman-Fried go to jail following trial?
US Attorney General Damian Williams proceeded with the superseding indictment after the government initially dropped the charges after the Bahamas didn’t extradite Bankman-Fried on the charge.
Williams reiterated in August that “Mr. Bankman-Fried remains charged with conducting an illegal campaign finance scheme.”
“We submit that Mr. Bankman-Fried should not begin the sentencing process on the counts of conviction, including the presentence interview, until the severed counts are resolved,” the lawyers said.
Bankman-Fried is scheduled for a presentence interview on Thursday.
Kaplan denied the motion saying that the sentencing date was decided without objection from Bankman-Fried’s team, and the “defendant has had over six weeks in which to prepare for the presentence interview, which shall take place tomorrow as scheduled.”
Bankman-Fried’s landmark trial took place in New York last month. Jurors, days before the year anniversary of the FTX collapse, found the former CEO guilty after a month-long trial.
Don’t miss the next big story – join our free daily newsletter.
