Appeals court upholds Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud conviction and 25-year sentence, calls evidence 'robust'

The unanimous ruling

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan denied Sam Bankman-Fried's bid on Friday, keeping his conviction on seven felony charges and his 25-year sentence in place. The 42-page opinion, written by Circuit Judge Barrington Parker, stated that the prosecution's case "was, conservatively stated, robust." Bankman-Fried's lawyers argued the trial was unfair because U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan prevented them from introducing evidence that FTX could have covered customer redemptions, but the appeals court found no error.

FTX customers were defrauded as soon as Bankman-Fried transferred their money to Alameda regardless of how strongly he believed he might later make them whole.

The personal piggy bank

Parker described Bankman-Fried's conduct in stark terms, writing that while the founder was publicly reassuring customers and investors, he was simultaneously using FTX as his "personal piggy bank." Customer funds were spent on real estate, political contributions, and investments. Prosecutors said he stole $8 billion from FTX users to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, in what they called a "fraud of epic proportions." At trial, three of his former deputies testified that Bankman-Fried directed them to raid customer accounts.

The government's evidence against him was, conservatively stated, robust.

A detour through the pardon office

While his legal team weighs whether to ask the full 2nd Circuit or the Supreme Court to hear the case, Bankman-Fried has also filed a pardon application with the Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney. The request, which is listed as pending, comes after President Donald Trump last year pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. Trump earlier suggested he would not pardon Bankman-Fried, but the administration's approach to crypto-linked clemency remains unpredictable. Neither the White House nor the Justice Department commented.

Timeline of the collapse

FTX imploded in November 2022 when panicked customers rushed to withdraw funds, revealing a roughly $8 billion hole. Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 and sentenced in March 2024. The appeal now denied, his earliest release date from a low-security prison near Santa Barbara, California, is 2044.