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Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried is planning to appeal against both the conviction and sentence with the District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
Sam Bankman-Fried case of fraud and conspiracy hasn’t reached the final decision yet more appeals and requests continue to surface. The founder of the ill-fated FTX exchange is all set to challenge the conviction and prison sentence and filed an appeal notice challenging the 25-year jail sentence.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Appeal Process
Sam Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty in a case of fraud and conspiracy isn’t putting his knees down, challenging the court’s conviction and prison sentence.
On April 11th, 2024, Sam Bankman-Fried’s team filed a Criminal Notice of Appeal-Form A to challenge the allegations and court sentencing. This action comes two weeks following his 25-year sentence in a California minimum-security facility.
On March 28, the Federal Court sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) to 25 years in prison for involvement in fraudulent activities. The team requested to hold Sam in New York while the appeal continues and to upturn the prison sentence. However, the brief is supposed to be filed within 91 days.
Furthermore, the Department of Justice has 91 days to file its opposition.
Martin Auerbach, of counsel with Withers Bergman, said that records will be reviewed based on the issues of SBF trial counsel along with exploring the errors affecting substantial rights.
“The focus here will likely be on novel substantive and procedural rulings by the court that an appellate court might see as significant,” he added.
Additionally, the electronic appeal was officially delivered to the U.S. Court of Appeals (USCA) and will be reviewed by a three-judge panel from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Also, the appeal process involves different stages including the submission of pertinent documents such as transcripts and briefs, along with oral arguments.
Moreover, SBF’s family and lawyers also requested to reduce his punishment because of Sam’s mental math and has been on medications for anhedonic depression since college. He was diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2020.
The appeal and request process for SBF might extend over several years and could probably escalate to the US Supreme Court. It is challenging for the judiciary to change a federal court’s decision. Once the oral arguments are registered, the court can and will take enough time to reach the final decision.
What About FTX?
FTX was a leading cryptocurrency exchange co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, bankrupt in November 2022. Despite the ongoing legal battle, the exchange decided to settle the fraud victims and proposed a plan to compensate the fraud victims.
The exchange sold over 30 Million locked Solana (SOL) tokens for around $1.9 Billion at a 60% discount. The sale was an effort to repay the FTX customers who lost their assets in the SBF scam.
Furthermore, the exchange still holds over 11 Million tokens after the sale and continues to repay the full amount to the customers. Additionally, the exchange has no plans to relaunch.
Adarsh Singh is a true connoisseur of Defi and Blockchain technologies, who left his job at a “Big 4” multinational finance firm to pursue crypto and NFT trading full-time. He has a strong background in finance, with MBA from a prestigious B-school. He delves deep into these innovative fields, unraveling their intricacies. Uncovering hidden gems, be it coins, tokens or NFTs, is his expertise. NFTs drive deep interest for him, and his creative analysis of NFTs opens up engaging narratives. He strives to bring decentralized digital assets accessible to the masses.
