US Prosecutors Ask Judge to be Lenient on ex-Celsius Exec, Citing Cooperation
Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy to commit price manipulation related to Celsius‘s CEL token in September 2023 as part of his role in the crypto lending platform’s activities that led to the loss of billions of dollars when the company collapsed in 2022. He had been scheduled to be sentenced before Judge John Koeltl on May 7, but on Monday the judge moved the sentencing hearing to May 13. Mashinsky, the public face of Celsius and one of the most prominent figures in the cryptocurrency industry at the time, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to commodities and securities fraud. Many experts saw the fall of Celsius as intertwined with the 2022 crypto market downturn that resulted in the collapse of several exchanges, including FTX and Voyager Digital. Cohen-Pavons lawyers asked for time served ahead of his sentencing hearing, saying that the former Celsius executive took “full responsibility for his conduct and the harms caused by his participation in the CEL token manipulation scheme.” No new trial for former FTX CEO The sentencing hearing, expected to wrap up the criminal cases associated with Celsius, will come after another SDNY federal judge denied former FTX CEO