Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, serving a 25-year sentence after his conviction on seven felony counts, will take the next step in his appeals process with a hearing scheduled for November.
According to a Wednesday notice in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Bankman-Fried’s appeals case has been calendared for arguments on Nov. 4. The court proceeding will mark the first significant movement in the former CEO’s criminal case since his transfer from a New York City facility in March to one in California.
The hearing in the Second Circuit had been expected since Bankman-Fried’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal in April 2024 over his 2023 conviction and 25-year sentence. Bankman-Fried’s legal team argued in his appeal filed in September 2024 that the former CEO was “never presumed innocent,” also claiming that prosecutors presented a “false narrative” of FTX user funds as permanently lost.
Bankman-Fried’s case included some of the most significant criminal charges against a high-profile cryptocurrency figure at the time. Should the appellate court reverse the lower court ruling, it could mean a new trial or sentencing hearing for SBF.
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FTX, with many employees based in the Bahamas, experienced severe liquidity issues and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. Several of the exchange’s C-suite executives were criminally charged after its collapse, but Bankman-Fried was the only one to stick with a not guilty plea, leading to a New York trial monitored by many across the globe.
Though initially allowed to remain at his parents’ California home after his extradition from the Bahamas, a judge revoked SBF’s bail in August 2023 after hearing evidence suggesting he attempted to intimidate witnesses in his case.
Since March, Bankman-Fried has been housed at the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in California. According to the US Bureau of Prisons, his expected release date will be Oct. 25, 2044.
There’s still one criminal case connected to FTX awaiting its day in court
Following Bankman-Fried’s trial and sentencing, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York held sentencing hearings for four of SBF’s associates: former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison (also SBF’s ex-girlfriend), former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh.
Ellison, who pleaded guilty and testified at Bankman-Fried’s trial, was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2024. She is expected to be released in March 2026. Wang and Singh, who also testified, were both sentenced to time served.
Salame, however, initially pleaded guilty in 2023 but later attempted to vacate his plea in response to prosecutors pursuing charges against his partner, Michelle Bond. He was ultimately sentenced to more than seven years in prison, to which he reported in October 2024. Bond’s case was still ongoing at the time of publication.
Rumors of a presidential pardon
Reports have suggested that Bankman-Fried, despite moving forward in the appellate court, could also be seeking a pardon from US President Donald Trump. In an interview released in February, he signaled a willingness to more closely identify with Republicans and right-leaning politicians rather than Democrats.
It’s unclear if the Trumpt may consider a pardon for Bankman-Fried, given the public attention on his case. Shortly after taking office in January, Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life in prison.
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