A U.S. District Judge has again denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s request to be temporarily released from prison before his upcoming trial.
On Monday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers filed a formal request to release the former FTX CEO on October 2, the day before his trial was set to begin.
The lawyers argued that Bankman-Fried’s temporary release for the duration of the trial is necessary for the preparation of his defense, citing the highly technical nature of the trial, the prosecution’s list of more than 50 witnesses and the need to sift through thousands of witnesses. pages of witness material and more than 1,300 pieces of evidence.
However, on Thursday, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the request “for reasons contained in the record as of this date.”
Bankman-Fried had been released on $250 million bail and was staying at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, after his arrest in December. But federal prosecutors successfully revoked his bail in August based on allegations that he was guilty of witness tampering.
Later that month, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers first asked for his pretrial release, arguing that his stay in the jail at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn reduces his access to discovery in the case “from seven days a week/ 80-100 hours per week up to (maximum) two days per week/six hours per day.”
Kaplan first denied the request for pretrial release on September 12, ruling that Bankman-Fried had “failed to provide detailed evidence regarding specific materials to which he claims he personally did not have access and the reasons why such personal inability would actually exist.” hinder his defense.”
The judge also noted that Bankman-Fried had not asked for the trial to be postponed, despite his offer to consider doing so.
The founder of FTX has been accused of defrauding investors and mishandling billions of dollars of client funds in connection with last year’s stock market collapse. If convicted, he faces decades behind bars.
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