Yahoo Finance Judge Throws the Book at Bankman-Fried’s Political Henchman
A top lieutenant of crypto-fraud mastermind Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Tuesday to seven and a half years in prison—even more than federal prosecutors recommended.
And he has to give up his Porsche, to boot.
Ryan Salame, 30, pleaded guilty to financial crimes in connection with his work for Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency exchange and also admitted to helping make political contributions through the use of a straw donor to hide his boss’ connection.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan—who threw the book at Bankman-Fried and sentenced him to 25 years in the slammer after his conviction—was not in the mood to cut Salame a break.
“The state of our political life in this country is in jeopardy,” he said, according to The New York Times. “Efforts like that undertaken by Mr. Salame and Bankman-Fried only make matters worse.”
Sam Bankman-Fried Shares His Pain After 25-Year Sentencing: ‘I’m Haunted’
The defense asked the judge to give Salame just 18 months, while the feds called for five to seven years. Kaplan went with the prosecutors and tacked on an extra six months.
Salame, who must pay $11 million in restitution and fines and forfeit $1.5 billion and a Porsche 911, is the first of four Bankman-Fried acolytes to be sentenced in connection with plea bargains.
Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and SBF’s one-time girlfriend Caroline Ellison are awaiting sentencing.
In their pre-sentencing filing, Salame’s defense attorney portrayed him as a victim of Bankman-Fried.
“He has been a good man who has done much good in this world, who conspired to commit two crimes while in the thrall of a criminal leader,” they wrote, citing his “genuine remorse, efforts to address his substance abuse issues, and the significant personal and financial losses he has already suffered as a result of the exchange’s collapse.”
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