FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday filed to appeal his conviction of fraud and conspiracy, and appeal his 25-year sentence.
The electronic filing comes roughly two weeks after he was sentenced by Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Southern District of New York.
In November, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven charges tied to the downfall of FTX and his empire of related companies one year prior. The government wanted Bankman-Fried in prison for 40 to 50 years, significantly lower than the federal guidelines allowed for but much higher than the five to six years suggested by his defense team.
Bankman-Fried has been in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since August, when he was locked up for violating the conditions of his bail.
Kaplan, who said during sentencing that Bankman-Fried gave difficult and not entirely true testimony on the stand at his trial, ordered Bankman-Fried be sent to a low- or medium-security prison near his family’s Northern California home. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys instead requested that he stay at MDC, a notoriously harsh prison that previously housed Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere, during the appeals process.
In an email interview following his sentencing, Bankman-Fried told ABC News he “never thought that what I was doing was illegal. But I tried to hold myself to a high standard, and I certainly didn't meet that standard.”
“I’ve heard and seen the despair, frustration and sense of betrayal from thousands of customers; they deserve to be paid in full, at current price,” he said. “That could and should have happened in November 2022, and it could and should happen today. It’s excruciating to see them waiting, day after day.”
“I’m haunted, every day, by what was lost,” Bankman-Fried told ABC News. “I never intended to hurt anyone or take anyone’s money. But I was the CEO of FTX, I was responsible for what happened to the company, and when you’re responsible it doesn’t matter why it goes bad. I’d give anything to be able to help repair even part of the damage. I’m doing what I can from prison, but it’s deeply frustrating not to be able to do more.”
Bankman-Fried was the only person tied to the downfall of FTX to plead not guilty and therefore have a jury trial. Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Gary Wang, former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh and former CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame each pleaded guilty to various charges.
Ellison, Wang and Singh testified against Bankman-Fried during his trial. While none of them have court dates yet, Salame is set for sentencing May 28. He faces five years in prison.
