Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. The 32-year-old received his verdict in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday morning.
Bankman-Fried was found guilty by a jury last year of orchestrating a fraud scheme through the crypto exchange and hedge fund. He was found to have stolen $8 billion USD from users on the platform and convicted on seven charges of fraud and conspiracy.
During the trial, Bankman-Fried had attempted to claim that users didn’t actually lose money. His defense argued that the founder had merely borrowed the funds to run his Alameda Research group and was unaware of the debt he had accrued.
Prosecutors had been angling for a 40 to 50-year sentence, while the defense wanted no more than 6 and a half years.
In the sentencing, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said that the founder had lied during the trial and showed no remorse.
"He knew it was wrong," Kaplan said. "He knew it was criminal. He regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of getting caught. But he is not going to admit a thing, as is his right."
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