Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer argued in their appeal on Friday that the jury convicted him without seeing the full picture because the judge blocked crucial evidence. The lawyer claimed that the jury missed important information, which could have helped support Bankman-Fried’s belief that FTX had sufficient funds to cover customer withdrawals.
In a 102-page brief to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, stated that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made a mistake by preventing the 32-year-old former billionaire from presenting evidence. This evidence would have bolstered his defense that FTX’s financial situation wasn’t as dire as the prosecution suggested.
Shapiro argued that the government misrepresented the situation, leading the jury to believe that FTX’s customers, lenders, and investors permanently lost their money. She called for the appeals court to overturn Bankman-Fried’s conviction and his 25-year prison sentence, asserting that the jury only saw part of the evidence.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which handled the charges, did not provide any comment.
Criminal defendants often face challenges in overturning their convictions, as they must prove that the trial judge’s errors significantly impacted the verdict.
FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after a wave of customer withdrawals, marking a dramatic fall for Bankman-Fried. Once seen as an honest broker in the cryptocurrency world, he gained attention for his generous philanthropic and political donations.
FTX has since stated that customers will receive full recovery on their claims, based on the value of their accounts at the time of the bankruptcy filing. However, since cryptocurrency prices were lower then, some customers feel dissatisfied.
Prosecutors charged Bankman-Fried in December 2022, accusing him of stealing $8 billion in customer funds to cover losses at Alameda Research, his crypto-focused hedge fund.
During his trial in late 2023, Bankman-Fried admitted to mistakes in running FTX but denied ever stealing funds. He shifted much of the blame onto other FTX executives. Despite his defense, jurors found him guilty on two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy.
In March, Judge Kaplan sentenced Bankman-Fried, stating that he knew his actions were wrong but took a risky gamble on not getting caught. Bankman-Fried is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
