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Crime News

Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years in Prison (washingtonpost.com) 143

Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years [non-paywalled link] in prison for a massive fraud that unraveled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world's most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency. From a report: Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November of fraud and conspiracy -- a dramatic fall from a crest of success. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan imposed the sentence in the same Manhattan courtroom where, four months ago, Bankman-Fried testified that his intention had been to revolutionize the emerging cryptocurrency market with his innovative and altruistic ideas, not to steal.

Kaplan said the sentence reflected "that there is a risk that this man will be in position to do something very bad in the future. And it's not a trivial risk at all." He added that it was "for the purpose of disabling him to the extent that can appropriately be done for a significant period of time." Prior to sentencing, Bankman-Fried had said, "My useful life is probably over. It's been over for a while now, from before my arrest."

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Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years in Prison

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  • Powerful democrats (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Guess this blows the theory he is(was) being protected by powerful democrats.

    • It's never too late for a Presidential pardon.
    • yep, But I am sure you won't see the likes of SuperKendall coming here to say they were wrong.
  • don't drop the soap!

    • by dbialac ( 320955 )
      He's been incarcerated for a while. He knows that. It's a shame that the sentence isn't longer, but at least it's 25 genuine years. And the nice thing is there's no such as parole with a federal sentence.
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      Rich person jail is different from poor person jail. Like Jordan Belfort, the Wolf Of Wall Street writer. He committed hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud. His cell mate was Tommy Chong. He served a few years and still hasn't fully repaid his restitution. He wrote a best selling book and does speaking engagements. White collar crime is the only way to go.

      • by HBI ( 10338492 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @11:10AM (#64351365)

        Let's try to be real here. This dude is not getting laid again until after most of his hormones are gone. He won't have a drink of anything other than prison hooch for many years. He won't have hands on a computer more or less until he gets out.

        While it isn't as bad as the common inmate who gets solitary for getting in a scuffle, it's nothing you or I would want. This is going to suck for him.

        • I bet a condition of his release is he can never touch a computer again.

          • Huh? He's not being released. I doubt not touching a computer will be part of any parole in the future either. He'll need to get a job while on parole.
          • by tchdab1 ( 164848 )

            By the time he gets released computers will be touching us.

          • I bet a condition of his release is he can never touch a computer again.

            That's irrelevant: his talent was as a con-man, not as a techie - he acknowledged more than once that he can't write code.

        • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @11:57AM (#64351509)
          how we use other prisoners in prison to inflict tortures we're otherwise too squeamish to inflict ourselves.

          You won't find anyone supporting state sanctioned rape & beating around here, but you'll find no shortage of people A-OK with looking the other way while it happens. While they know it happens. Gleefully.
          • by HBI ( 10338492 )

            My girlfriend did a 10 year stretch in prison before it was overturned on appeal. I'm highly conscious of prison abuses. She works now as a prison reform lobbyist.

            The upshot is that nothing is going to change until you stop imprisoning people. They'll still be cruel to each other, and if you choose to put everyone in solitary, it's even worse. We're social animals.

            The two Roman choices seem far more equitable. Fine for lesser offenses or death for capital offenses, and both avoidable by choosing exile

            • The upshot is that nothing is going to change until you stop imprisoning people.

              Not a problem. We'll just execute every criminal so there won't be a need for jails in the strict sense. They'll just be holding places until the execution takes place.

              Once they're dead a criminal can't criminal again.
              • by HBI ( 10338492 )

                The problem with death as a punishment is when you are wrong, the only solution is "oops".

                • Which is why, if there is any doubt, the person doesn't get executed. If it's found the prosecutor or a witness or someone else involved lied, withheld evidence, or anything similar, they get executed.

                  The person who was framed gets paid by their estates and the government along with a complete expungement of their record.

                  • If it's found the prosecutor or a witness or someone else involved lied, withheld evidence, or anything similar, they get executed.

                    Life in prison would be fine. It's probably a good thing we don't have the death penalty here.

                    George Dangerfield holds the unfortunate title of being the Crown prosecutor responsible for the most wrongful convictions in Canada. Four that have been proven include Thomas Sophonow, James Driskell, Kyle Unger and Frank Ostrowski, and two more, Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse, await a decision from the Minister of Justice.

                    https://www.innocencecanada.co... [innocencecanada.com]

                    And it is actually six now. So far.

        • Let's try to be real here. This dude is not getting laid again until after most of his hormones are gone. He won't have a drink of anything other than prison hooch..

          If he was semi-smart, then he has hidden millions or billions to pay off anyone while in prison, and the interest he’ll earn after 25 years will buy him plenty of whores and Viagra vape pens in 2049.

        • Nothing by our standards, but one thing the BOP does right is electronic messaging kiosks. Google Corrlinks, I think it is. Plain text and limited length, billed per minute.

    • Making fun of prison rape. Stay classy my friend!
    • by Pascoea ( 968200 )
      I hear they use powdered soap. Takes longer to pick up.
  • Useful life? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by TwistedGreen ( 80055 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @10:55AM (#64351311)

    I'd argue he never had a useful life. He'll be in prison because his life until now has been damaging to society. Sad to see he still doesn't get that. Hope he stays there for a long time.

  • Useful life (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Njovich ( 553857 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @10:57AM (#64351325)

    Useful life, was that the part where he embezzled billions? Because I'm not sure that's something most people would call useful.

    • by taustin ( 171655 )

      He didn't say who it was useful to, after all. It was certainly useful to himself, and to anyone he donated to.

    • Useful life, was that the part where he embezzled billions? Because I'm not sure that's something most people would call useful.

      Tell that to a multi-millionaire banker or politician. I’m certain they will believe they lead a “useful” life. So will their children benefiting from them.

  • I don't want to excuse what he did, given the big numbers, but 25 years is pretty harsh. It's just money and 25 years is going to be no more a deterrent than 15, IMHO. But there will be parole and he's quite young and healthy.

    • Re:Harsh sentencing (Score:4, Informative)

      by HBI ( 10338492 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @11:15AM (#64351379)

      There is no parole in the federal system. He can get a 54 day per year reduction in the sentence for good behavior, that's about it.

      I'm sure his lawyers will be trying the appeals process over and over, but he's pretty much in jail for slightly over 20 years.

      • Why is there no parole in the federal system? That's horrific!

        • by HBI ( 10338492 )

          Start here. [nolo.com]

          If you want commentary, it was the time of the great wave of street crime in the US. The lawmakers of the time wanted to 'do something' about it. The logic of the time said that stiff mandatory sentences would deter crime and/or at least get people off the street. Of course, the great result is really captured well in Paul Graham's chart. [twitter.com] Bad policy takes on a life of its own.

    • by taustin ( 171655 )

      The largest fraud in history is a pretty harsh crime. Sentences are as much about punishment as deterrence.

      • by Viol8 ( 599362 )

        Seems to me a lot of people "forget" about the punishment side of justice. If justice isn't seen to be done then it eventually loses its purpose and ends up being held in contempt by the public.

    • by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

      "It's just money"

      If I have worked my entire life for a savings and invest it, and you take that money maliciously (as he did), you're robbing me.

      Money is the way we measure our time value. $20 to one person is worth something different than $20 to another person, so a theft of $20 is different. It may be life impacting.

      It's analogous to fractional slavery, honestly - you're depriving someone of the proceeds of their labor, depriving them of their autonomy.

      Death would have been appropriate, if you consider t

    • by rskbrkr ( 824653 )

      Under the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, Congress eliminated parole for defendants convicted of federal crimes committed after November 1, 1987. Going forward, these offenders receive a period of "supervised release" to be served at the end of the federal prison sentence.

      https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/is-federal-parole-system.html [nolo.com]

    • by Pascoea ( 968200 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @02:08PM (#64351895)

      It's just money

      Spoken like someone who has never not had money. The money I've managed to save up is "just" my retirement. If that disappears I'd "just" be relegated to working until I'm dead. Yeah, fuck that sociopath. He can rot in prison.

      • I've never had money, dude. You are the one speaking like it's all that matters.

        • by Pascoea ( 968200 )

          Never said that's all that matters, but it's pretty difficult to actually live without it, isn't it? It's not "just money" when your scraping enough together to put a couple gallons of gas in your car. It's "just money" when spending $10k on some frivolous garbage doesn't even raise your blood pressure. Big difference.

          Whatever, though. Point still stands: SBF is a sociopath that I can't muster a shred of empathy for.

  • If I remember federal rules correctly, he should be eligible for parole in 2031 (or thereabouts - one third of the sentence). Granting of the early parole will require him to show some remorse (something he did not do at trial).
  • He should have been locked up for longer given the fraud he perpetrated. But he is right about one thing: his useful life is likely over. However, it would be interesting to see what he tries to do once he's released. I probably won't live to see it but perhaps I'll be proved wrong.

  • life over (Score:5, Interesting)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Thursday March 28, 2024 @11:30AM (#64351419)

    Not too long ago, I had someone in the Men's room ask me how to flush the urinal. The urinal had an auto-flush mechanism, all he had to do was walk away. He said he had just been released from 25 years in prison. He had never seen a toilet that could flush itself. He said that he had not seen all of the technology and felt lost coming back into society. This is SBF's future.

    • There are bigger issues. People getting out of Rip van Winkle sentences don't know how you apply for a job now. We need much better re-entry preparation.

  • Seems the "i'm a poor little aspie and didn't understand the effect my actions would have on people" excuse didn't work for this guy. Such a shame. /sarcasm

  • Anyone still "hodling" crypto should be seen as an economic vandal. I don't know why Craig Wright tried to become associated with that name. Cryptocurrency is a literal example of a financial Pandora's box, and is basically a nuclear weapon with the damage it caused to the economy with all the ransomware, theft, terrorism funding and drug abuse. I remember the whole "Shylock: victim or villain" debate back in school, and it has parallels with Fried and other crypto figures who got themselves imprisoned due

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