Federal Judge Denies SBF Retrial Motion, 25-Year Sentence Stands
Tech Federal Judge Denies SBF Retrial Motion, 25-Year Sentence StandsJudge Lewis Kaplan denied SBFs request for a new trial and called the claims baseless.Kaplan said allegations of witness pressure by prosecutors were “wildly conspiratorial.”Sam Bankman-Fried tried to withdraw his motion, but the court proceeded and denied the request. Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried lost his bid for a new trial after US District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected claims of newly discovered evidence tied to the collapse of FTX. In a Tuesday filing in the Southern District of New York, Kaplan called the motion “baseless” and said key allegations were “wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.” The ruling leaves Bankman-Frieds 25-year prison sentence in place while his separate appeal continues. Judge Says Witness Claims Were Not New Bankman-Fried argued that testimony from former FTX executives could support his position that FTX was solvent and customers were later repaid through bankruptcy proceedings. He pointed to former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame and former head of data science Daniel Chapsky. Kaplan rejected the argument, writing that none of the witnesses were newly discovered. He said Bankman-Fried knew them before the trial and knew what he expected them to say. The judge added that Bankman-Fried could have sought to compel their