Sam Bankman Fried has formally applied for a presidential pardon as he continues to appeal his conviction and 25-year prison sentence through the US appeals process.
summary
- Sam Bankman Fried has filed a formal request for a presidential pardon despite Donald Trump previously stating that he does not plan to grant a clemency.
- The former FTX CEO remains in prison serving a 25-year sentence while his appeal against the 2023 fraud conviction continues.
- The court’s latest efforts to secure a new trial were rejected, leaving appeals and a pardon application as the main remaining avenues for relief.
According to the website of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, the former FTX CEO has applied for a “post-sentence pardon,” reviving clemency efforts that have faced political resistance in recent months.
The submission comes despite comments from US President Donald Trump, who told the New York Times in January that he had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried. When asked about the renewed request this week, a White House spokesperson pointed to Trump’s previous statements, suggesting there was no change in the administration’s position.
Now, Bankman-Fried, 34, was convicted in 2023 of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after federal prosecutors alleged he transferred billions of dollars in client money from FTX to its trading firm, Alameda Research. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan later sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Recent records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons show that Bankman-Fried is currently in a low-security federal correctional facility in Santa Barbara, California.
The pardon request comes after setbacks in court
The pardon request comes after a series of unsuccessful legal efforts to overturn the conviction.
Earlier this year, Bankman Fried Rule 33 introduced asked for a new trial, arguing that subsequent evidence and testimony challenged key parts of the government’s case. He later withdrew that request without prejudice, saying he might reconsider the case after his direct appeal and after a ruling on his separate request for another judge to be appointed to oversee any future motion, court filings show.
Days later, Judge Kaplan was officially appointed unacceptable Request for retrial. In an April ruling, the judge wrote that the witnesses cited by Bankman-Fried were not newly discovered and could have been called during the original proceedings. Kaplan also denied allegations that prosecutors pressured witnesses, calling those allegations unsupported by the trial record.
Likewise, federal prosecutors said the defense failed to present any real new evidence. Court filings from the government also disputed claims that FTX was able to repay its debts before its collapse, noting that the exchange was only holding 105 bitcoins against customer claims approaching 100,000 bitcoins.
While retrial efforts at the district court level have been closed, Bankman-Fried’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remains.
The family’s campaign failed to improve the chances of a pardon
Along with the legal challenge, members of Bankman-Fried’s family have publicly defended him and questioned the government’s case.
During an interview with CNN discussion In May, his parents, Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, said their son’s ruling was wrong and disputed FTX’s characterization of behavior. Barbara Fried also claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated, while Joseph Bankman maintained that the clients’ assets were ultimately available through the bankruptcy estate.
These arguments did not translate into stronger expectations of clemency. Data from forecast markets cited in May showed traders assigning only a low probability to a presidential pardon. Polymarket estimated the odds at 11%, while Calci showed 9%.
Political support also remained limited. US Senator Cynthia Lummis He said Politico said in May that it hoped Trump would not pardon Bankman-Fried, saying the former executive had harmed many people.
