Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried has knowledgeable the federal court docket that he has retained new counsel forward of his sentencing listening to for seven legal prices. Moreover, SBF’s authorized crew submitted a sealed doc indicating the potential for contemplating an enchantment to his November conviction.
The filing, made on January 9 in the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York, revealed that Torrey Younger and Marc Mukasey from Mukasey Younger LLP at the moment are representing Bankman-Fried.
Sam Bankman-Fried, who’s dealing with potential many years in jail after being convicted of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud, has introduced in Marc Mukaseyy, a former federal prosecutor.
Defendants typically herald new attorneys forward of sentencing to offer recent views on the case. Marc Mukasey, who has not commented, has a monitor file of defending white-collar instances, together with representing people concerned in monetary market manipulation instances and high-profile company figures.
Mukasey beforehand represented Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who obtained a four-year jail sentence, significantly lower than the 11 years sought by prosecutors. Whereas Bankman-Fried might discover hope in Milton’s extra lenient sentence, the character and scale of his fraud are extra intensive, making his case extra complicated and probably carrying extra extreme penalties.
Mukasey’s father, Michael Mukasey, is a former decide within the Southern District of New York, the place Decide Kaplan presides. Marc Mukasey has additionally been concerned in representing former President Donald Trump’s firm in a legal case introduced in opposition to it by Manhattan District Lawyer Cyrus Vance.
Sam Bankman-Fried, Former FTX CEO, Shuffles Authorized Crew Forward of Sentencing
Bankman-Fried, aged 31, was convicted late final yr for stealing billions of {dollars} of buyer funds, diverting them into enterprise investments, buying and selling, loans, and actual property by means of FTX-sister hedge fund Alameda Analysis.
Notably, Bankman-Fried is reshuffling his authorized crew following a contentious trial where he and his lawyers clashed with Decide Lewis Kaplan. The decide will decide Bankman-Fried’s sentence, and he had expressed frustration with the defendant even earlier than the trial.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s resolution to retain new counsel earlier than his sentencing listening to is unclear, with reviews suggesting that members of his authorized crew have been dissatisfied together with his efficiency on the stand in the course of the trial. Stanford Regulation College professor David Mills has criticized SBF as “the worst individual [he had] ever seen do a cross-examination.”
On November 3, Sam Bankman-Fried, the previous CEO of cryptocurrency trade FTX, was discovered responsible of all seven fraud prices by a jury in his legal trial. The jury reached its verdict after over 4 hours of deliberations.
The costs included two counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one rely of securities fraud, one rely of commodities fraud conspiracy, and one rely of cash laundering conspiracy.
Bankman-Fried’s request for a four- to six-week adjournment on his sentencing listening to was declined by Decide Lewis Kaplan. The decide didn’t permit any adjustments to the schedule, noting that the protection didn’t object to the sentencing date when it was set.
Bankman-Fried had already obtained one extension for submitting sentencing submissions. His sentencing date is scheduled for March 28, 2024.
Nevertheless, in December 2023, United States prosecutors reportedly dropped a second trial in opposition to Sam Bankman-Fried following the general public curiosity in shortly resolving the trial, significantly as victims await compensation particulars for his or her FTX accounts after its collapse in November 2022.
Prosecutors argue that there wouldn’t be sufficient new evidence for a second trial, as most proof was already revealed in the course of the preliminary trial. The court docket can think about all related conduct when sentencing him for the counts discovered responsible within the preliminary trial.
The previous FTX CEO may very well be years in jail following his conviction.