Sam Bankman Fried, former CEO of FTX, has withdrawn his Rule 33 motion seeking a new trial in his criminal case.
summary
- Bankman-Fried withdrew his Rule 33 motion but reserved his motion for appeal and reappointment to the court.
- The judge told Kaplan that he wrote the letter himself after consulting his parents and his lawyer.
- The former FTX boss is still challenging his conviction and sentence and Kaplan’s role in future sentencing.
The request was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where he told Judge Lewis Kaplan that he wanted to withdraw the request for now rather than continue to press it at this point.
Bankman-Fried said the motion was withdrawn “without prejudice,” meaning he may try again later. In the same breath DepositHe said that he may renew the request after the court decides on his direct appeal and on his separate request to appoint another judge to handle the matter.
The deposition answers the judge’s questions
The latest letter came after Judge Kaplan asked Bankman-Fried to clarify whether the attorneys had helped file a previous lawsuit. Which to request This followed concerns raised by prosecutors about how the previous application was prepared and whether Bankman-Fried actually drafted it while in prison.
In his response, Bankman-Fried wrote: “I am the author of this letter, but I have consulted with my parents about this matter, as it concerns both of them.”
He also wrote that he spent time answering the court’s questions rather than preparing a full response to the prosecution, and said, “I don’t think I will get a fair hearing on this matter before you.”
Meanwhile, despite withdrawing the motion for a new trial, Bankman-Fried is still requesting a different judge to handle any future motion under Section 33. Earlier this year, he said Argue That Kaplan showed “extreme bias,” and that his reappointment request was not withdrawn.
His direct appeal also remains active to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The final letter did not change this process, leaving the appeal of his conviction on a separate track from the withdrawn trial motion.
The FTX case continues to shape the legal battle
Bankman Fried Serves A 25 years imprisonment After a jury convicted him in 2023 of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy linked to the collapse of FTX. Prosecutors said he stole about $8 billion in client funds, while his post-trial filings continued to dispute key parts of the case.
In his February a movement For a new trial, he argued that subsequent evidence and deleted testimony challenged the prosecution’s account of FTX’s finances. For now, that argument has been set aside, but the broader legal battle over his conviction and sentence is still moving through the courts.
