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- Sam is held at Fox Hill, awaiting a US extradition hearing until February 8, 2023.
- Initially, Bankman’s legal team suggested they fight against it, but Sam seems to have reversed the decision.
- Within 48 hours of SBF’s arrival in the US, he can plead for bail.
The former “white knight” of cryptocurrency, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), seems to have lost the battle with the rodents and maggots inside the Fox Hill prison, where he is being held till the extradition hearing scheduled on February 8, 2023. Initially, his legal team was going to fight his extradition, but the notorious prison seems to have changed SBF’s plight. Sam will no longer be contesting the United States Extradition request.
Sam is expected to appear in the Bahamian court on Monday, where he will reverse his previous decision to contest extradition to the United States, where he is about to face charges of deceit, financial crime and many more.
Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted on Tuesday in a federal court in Manhattan and is accused of duping FTX customers, stealing their funds to make investments for his crypto hedge fund Alameda Research LLC.
SBF will now appear in a United States Court, where he will face charges regarding wire fraud, money laundering and campaign finance charges.
Defense lawyer Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma said that, If and when Sam is to set foot on US soil, he is most likely to be held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
At the time of the first hearing in Manhattan, Sam shall be asked to enter a plea, and then a judge would make a bail determination. Margulis added that such hearings must occur within 48 hours of Bankman’s arrival, but this being a sensitive case, it can take place sooner.
Prosecutors can argue that Sam is a flight risk and should remain in custody, as a huge sum of money is involved in the case. Also, the location of the funds is unclear.
White collar defense attorney Michael Weinstein commented:
“I expect that if the judge grants pretrial release, they would impose very restrictive and onerous conditions.”
Legal experts say that any type of trial is more than a year away, citing the intense complexity of the case.
What are SBF’s options?
According to some reports, the court of law offers some relief for the accused; Sam Bankman-Fried might get a 150-years jail sentence. However, some experts are pointing out ways Sam can lessen his prison time.
If Sam puts forth a bigger fish against the court, for example, Tether or the CEO of the biggest crypto exchange, if this case materializes, then the court’s time will be divided, and he might get a lesser time.
And if he hands over more than $1 billion in assets to the court for distributing them to investors, then it shall remarkably lessen prosecutors’ efforts.
If both these requirements are met, there are possibilities that SBF is expected to get a 20-year sentence.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast, with a major in macroeconomics and minor in business statistics. She believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks, and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning. She frequently researches, and posts content on the top altcoins, their theoretical working principles and technical price predictions.
