Federal Appeals Court Denies Sam Bankman-Fried's Attempt to Reverse 25-Year Sentence
The ex-CEO of FTX had his criminal conviction confirmed by a federal appeals court, as his pursuit of presidential clemency from Donald Trump seems unlikely to succeed given political realities.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former chief executive of FTX, was unsuccessful in his attempt to have his fraud conviction overturned and his 25-year prison term eliminated following the FTX exchange's spectacular implosion, as a panel of three appellate judges denied his request for a reprieve.
The decision, reached unanimously by judges at the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals located in Manhattan, New York, determined that prosecutors had built a case against Bankman-Fried that was, as the court characterized it, "conservatively stated, robust," Reuters reported.
"While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real estate, political contributions, and investments,"
Circuit Judge Barrington Parker
This legal setback arrives as Bankman-Fried is simultaneously exploring an alternative path to contest his criminal conviction. According to recent coverage by Cointelegraph, the former crypto executive has officially submitted an application for executive clemency from President Donald Trump, with documentation of his request now visible on the website of the US Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney as of early June.
Following his conviction on charges of fraud and conspiracy related to the multibillion-dollar failure of the FTX cryptocurrency platform, Bankman-Fried received a prison sentence of 25 years in 2024.
Presidential pardon unlikely for Bankman-Fried
During a Fox Business interview conducted recently, Bankman-Fried confirmed he was "absolutely" pursuing executive clemency from President Donald Trump. Nevertheless, the one-time leader of FTX doesn't appear to be garnering substantial backing from the commander-in-chief.
When speaking with The New York Times this past January, Trump indicated he had no intention of granting a pardon to Bankman-Fried. Additionally, a representative from the White House refused to provide commentary regarding the clemency petition, directing Bloomberg the previous week to statements the president had made earlier.
Despite this, Trump has demonstrated an openness to issuing pardons in prominent cases, exemplified by his clemency grant to Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road, soon after his return to the presidency.
Ulbricht was the operator behind the Silk Road dark web marketplace, a platform where Bitcoin served as the principal method of payment. Prior to receiving a pardon from Trump in January 2025, he had been imprisoned while serving two consecutive life sentences along with an additional 40 years.