Sam Bankman-Fried Drops New Trial Bid, Appeal Still Active

The former FTX CEO said he may renew the request after the appeal and a separate bid to reassign the judge are decided. Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 on fraud charges tied to the collapse of FTX and is currently serving his sentence in a California federal prison.

SBF Drops New Trial Bid

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of FTX, withdrew a motion in federal court that sought a new trial in his criminal case. Although he has dropped that request for now, his appeal challenging both his conviction and 25-year prison sentence is still active and pending before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The latest development came through a filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. In the letter, Bankman-Fried responded to an earlier order from Judge Lewis Kaplan, who had asked whether the former executive received legal assistance in preparing a motion he had submitted on his own behalf. The judge’s inquiry followed concerns raised by prosecutors over whether the filing was truly prepared independently.

Letter from SBF (Source: Courtlistener)

Questions also arose after Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried, sent a separate letter to the court in support of her son, despite not having legal standing in the case. In his response, Bankman-Fried said he wrote the letter himself but acknowledged consulting with his parents because it involved them as well.

He stated that the time spent responding to the court’s questions distracted him from preparing a reply to prosecutors who opposed his request for a new trial. He also claimed that he did not believe he would receive a fair hearing before Judge Kaplan. For that reason, he asked to withdraw the Rule 33 motion, while reserving the option to renew it later after the appeal process and a separate request for judicial reassignment have been decided.

Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried argued that Judge Kaplan demonstrated what he described as “extreme prejudice,” and asked for another judge to oversee his motion. That issue is also still unresolved. 

Bankman-Fried was once one of the most well known people in the digital asset industry. He led FTX as it grew into one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. However, the company collapsed in 2022 after it was revealed that customer funds were improperly used. 

He was later convicted in 2023 on fraud-related charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He is currently serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California.

Since entering prison, Bankman-Fried has made public comments through interviews and social media. Some of those remarks fueled speculation that he may seek a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. 

He publicly praised Trump’s cryptocurrency policies and other political actions. Despite that apparent strategy, Trump reportedly said in a January interview that he had no plans to pardon the former FTX executive.