Former FTX exec sentenced to 7.5 years in prison after guilty plea

cyptouser6 months agoCryptocurrencies News79
55966e89>

A federal judge has sentenced former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame to 7.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to two felony charges.

In a May 28 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Salame to serve 7.5 years in prison for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and engaging in campaign finance fraud. The former FTX executive pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2023 and has been awaiting sentencing.

Salame reported FTX’s fraudulent activities to the Securities Commission of the Bahamas on Nov. 9, 2022 — just two days before Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO and the firm filed for bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried was later extradited to the U.S. from the Bahamas and convicted of seven felony counts. In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

Prosecutors recommended Salame serve up to seven years in prison for his role in misusing FTX user funds and fraud related to contributions to his girlfriend Michelle Bond’s run for Congress. His lawyers argued that an 18-month sentence was appropriate as he occupied the “lowest rung of the conspiracies to which he pleaded guilty” and was unlikely to commit similar crimes.

The former FTX executive was the second figure connected to FTX and Alameda Research to be sentenced after Bankman-Fried. Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh and FTX co-founder Gary Wang all pleaded guilty to charges and testified in Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial. It was unclear when their sentencing hearings would take place at the time of publication.

Related: Former FTX exec Ryan Salame to give up $5.9M Bahamas property

Salame has been largely free to travel since his guilty plea and release on a $1 million bond. As part of his deal with prosecutors, he will have to pay roughly $6 million in penalties to the U.S. government and $6 million to FTX debtors and surrender two properties and a business.

During forfeiture proceedings, Salame’s lawyers claimed he would be left with “no remaining assets” after having a net worth in the millions in 2022. A May 27 court filing showed Salame might retain ownership of a 2021 Porsche as it did “not have sufficient equity to further pursue forfeiture.”

Magazine: ‘Less flashy’ Mashinsky set for less jail time than SBF: Inner City Press, X Hall of Flame

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

The content on this website comes from the Internet. Due to the inconvenience of proofreading the authenticity and accuracy of the copyright or content of some content, it may be temporarily impossible to confirm the authenticity and accuracy of the copyright or content. For copyright issues or other issues caused by this, please Call or email this site. It will be deleted or changed immediately after verification.

related articles

AgileGTM announces first $10 million B2B blockchain accelerator fund

Venture capital firm AgileGTM announced the launch of its $10 million business-to-business (B2B) blo...

Thailand will block unlicensed crypto exchanges 'to solve online crimes'

Thailand will block unlicensed crypto exchanges 'to solve online crimes'

1205f261˃Thai authorities have decided to block unlicensed crypto exchanges from operating in the co...

Bitcoin Bollinger Bands hit level that saw BTC price squeeze past $50K

Bitcoin Bollinger Bands hit level that saw BTC price squeeze past $50K

1205f261˃Bitcoin (BTC) stuck near $66,000 on April 23 as waiting sellers kept BTC price action firml...

SEC delays decision on seven spot Bitcoin ETFs, including Blackrock’s

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed decisions regarding proposed rule change...

SEC has 'very low' odds of winning against Uniswap: Crypto lawyer

1205f261˃Well, it happened. We’ve known for a year the Securities and Exchange Commission was conduc...

BTC-e founder pleads guilty in $9 billion laundering conspiracy

BTC-e founder pleads guilty in $9 billion laundering conspiracy

55966e89˃Alexander Vinnik, the Russian co-founder of an allegedly illicit crypto exchange, BTC-e, ha...