Court denies Sam Bankman-Fried's latest request for release

Quick Take

  • Sam Bankman-Fried’s latest motion for release was denied by a court of appeals.
  • Former FTX CEO will remain in jail pending his sentencing on March 28.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the latest attempt for release by Sam Bankman-Fried, and he'll have to stay in jail as his lawyers try and appeal his case.

"We have reviewed the Defendant-Appellant's additional arguments and find them unpersuasive," Clerk of Court Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe wrote in a letter dated Nov. 21. The court pointed out that Bankman-Fried had tried to tamper with two witnesses ahead of his original trial.

"The record shows that the district court thoroughly considered all of the relevant factors, including the Defendant-Appellant's course of conduct over time that had required the district court to repeatedly tighten the conditions of release," the court ruled

Found guilty

After a month-long trial, Bankman-Fried was found guilty on Nov. 2 by a jury on seven criminal counts of defrauding  customers, lenders, and investors of FTX. He is awaiting sentencing scheduled for March 28.

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The disgraced former CEO was initially put under house arrest at his parents' residence in Palo Alto, California in January, but in October the court revoked his bail after he leaked Caroline Ellison's diary to the New York Times, texted witnesses and spoke to the press while awaiting his trial.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Anna is a senior policy reporter at The Block. She has a background in political journalism and covered Russian civil society for a range of news outlets in Moscow, including the award-winning newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Before joining The Block, Anna spent the past five years investigating cryptocurrency policies and adoption around the world at CoinDesk. Anna owns bitcoin and a gift NFT of sentimental value.

Editor

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