Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, filed an appeal Friday, claiming he was denied a fair trial last fall and seeking new proceedings under a different judge.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him on multiple federal counts of fraud and conspiracy in November. The charges stem from what prosecutors described as a yearslong scheme to siphon money from FTX customers’ accounts without their knowledge while lying to investors and lenders and spending lavishly on real estate, private jet trips and political donations.
Two years after FTX collapsed in the midst of a cash crunch, Bankman-Fried is arguing that he didn’t get a fair shake in his trial.
“He was presumed guilty — before he was even charged,” his lawyers said in an appeal brief. Nearly two years since FTX collapsed, “a very different picture is emerging—one confirming FTX was never insolvent, and in fact had assets worth billions to repay its customers.”
They argue the judge in the case, Lewis Kaplan, erred in “undermining the defense and defense counsel, even deriding the defendant’s own testimony during the preview hearing and in front of the jury.”
The appeal, much like the arguments made ahead of Bankman-Fried’s sentencing this spring, focus on FTX customers’ financial losses.
The court, they say, prohibited Bankman-Fried from introducing evidence of solvency for FTX and its sister firm, Alameda. At the same time, prosecutors were allowed to offer evidence of loss.
“Throughout the proceedings the district court made little pretense of objectivity or even-handedness … The judgment should be reversed, and the case remanded for a new trial before a different judge,” said Bankman-Fried’s attorneys.
Separately this week, lawyers for Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and former colleague, Caroline Ellison, asked the court to spare her from a prison sentence for her role in the alleged scheme. Ellison pleaded guilty in cooperation with the government and became a star witness against Bankman-Fried during his trial.
Ellison was one of several former colleagues who turned on Bankman-Fried and cooperated with prosecutors in the hopes of securing a lighter punishment.
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