FTX’s SBF’s Legal Battle Still has “A Lot to Play Out,” According to Legal Commentators

A final sentence on the eight charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, which carry a maximum sentence of 115 years, may be months or even years away.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is facing eight counts and a possible 115-year prison sentence, but legal experts told Cointelegraph that a final sentence for him is months or even years away because “a lot to play out” before then.

“At this point, it is hard to predict what will happen, but the stakes are extremely high. In 2009, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his role in a massive fraud scheme, while the prime movers in the Enron case received much shorter sentences a few years earlier “Solicitor and Partner at Stokoe Partnership Richard Cannon said.

Similar to the American financier Bernie Madoff, who stole tens of billions of dollars from thousands of investors over the course of 17 years, SBF used its reputation to hide FTX’s issues and the flow of funds to Alameda’s Research. Even though Madoff was convicted and ordered to pay $170 billion to victims in 2009, the Madoff Victims Fund reports that as of 2018, only $4 billion had been paid to victims.

In the case of Enron, executives of the scandal-plagued energy company were found guilty long after the events of the scandal had passed. One of Enron’s founders, Kenneth Lay, passed away before serving his 45-year prison sentence, and the former CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, has already served 12 years of his 24-year sentence.

Specifically, SBF is being accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, securities fraud, commodities fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and violation of campaign finance law.

“With an unprecedented sum of money at stake, SBF will likely be looking at a lofty stipulation range. However, there are extenuating circumstances, such as whether or not he cooperates or waives extradition, and whether or not he assists in the recovery of victim funds. Things will continue to develop here for months, if not years “blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs’ head of Legal and Government Affairs, Ari Redbord, made this observation.

As this case continues, the next step will be the extradition process from the Bahamas to the United States. “There will be a hearing in February to determine whether or not the defendant will challenge extradition, and he has not done so. A lot can happen between now and then, especially if the defendant is still in custody and eager to move things along. In that case, either SBF willfully submits to extradition or willfully contests it at the hearing “Redbord made a remark.

Former federal prosecutor Mark Cohen has reportedly been hired as defense counsel for the former FTX CEO. According to Cointelegraph, Cohen is a partner at Cohen & Gresser and worked on the team that successfully appealed the 20-year sentence handed down to child sex trafficking defendant Ghislaine Maxwell.