US prosecutors argue FTX's Ryan Salame’s guilty plea didn’t stop investigation into partner

U.S. prosecutors say they did not breach a plea agreement made with former FTX executive Ryan Salame and did not make any promises about future indictments against his partner, Michelle Bond, in the latest court filing. 

Salame accused the government last month of misconduct and asked for a New York court to either dismiss any indictment of Bond for campaign finance violations or, if not, vacate his conviction judgment.

Salame, previously the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, pled guilty in September to conspiring to make unlawful political contributions, as well as conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and was set to appear for his sentencing on Aug. 29, but his lawyer asked him to push that date back to Oct. 13 so that he could get urgent surgery after a dog attack, which was granted. 

Bond was later charged last month and was accused of financing her run for a U.S. House of Representative seat in New York in 2022 with "illicitly obtained funds."

Salame previously said prosecutors used plea negotiations to "threaten" his partner and mother of his eight-month-old child, adding he pled guilty only on the promise that the government would drop its investigation of Bond. 

Prosecutors on Thursday said they repeatedly clarified with Salame's lawyers that his guilty plea would not halt any ongoing investigation into Bond. 

"Salame’s claim that the Government breached the plea agreement is wrong on the facts and the law," prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday. "Factually, the sequence of events establishes not only that the plea agreement contained no promises about the investigation of Bond, but also that the plea agreement was consistent with the parties’ plea discussions: the Government made clear in advance of the plea agreement that it viewed Salame and Bond and the Government’s investigations into each as separate, and that any disposition as to Salame would not conclude the investigation of Bond." 

The filing also included some details about Salame's alleged misconduct while at FTX, according to notes taken by prosecutors in April 2023. Prosecutors say Salame used personally identifiable information of people he "identified as Thai prostitutes" to open accounts at the exchange. Salame also allegedly "supervised efforts to pay bribes to immigration authorities," prosecutors said. 

Prosecutors argued that Salame failed to raise his claims before his sentencing. 

"Despite being well aware of the ongoing Bond investigation prior to his sentencing, Salame did not raise his current claims prior to sentencing, when he could have sought relief prior to judgment being entered, nor did he raise them at sentencing, including prior to learning what his sentence would be," according to the filing. "And he did not appeal at all, much less raise claims that the Government breached the plea agreement or that the plea was unknowing and involuntary."

Salame's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.