Sam Bankman-Fried retrial letter under scrutiny over FedEx shipment, address discrepancies

Federal prosecutors have raised questions about the authenticity of a letter submitted to the court in support of Sam Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial, citing inconsistencies in how it was mailed and the return address listed. 

In a March 22 filing, prosecutors told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that the letter, docketed March 16, was shipped via FedEx, a private carrier barred to inmates under Bureau of Prisons rules. 

Per the filing, FedEx tracking data showed the package was picked up from Palo Alto or Menlo Park in California, not from Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island in San Pedro, where Bankman-Fried is serving his sentence.

The government also highlighted that the envelope misidentified Federal Correctional Institution Terminal Island as a “DOC” facility and carried a typed “/s/” signature rather than Bankman-Fried’s handwritten signature, providing what prosecutors termed "reason to doubt" the authenticity of the correspondence.

Bankman-Fried, 34, is serving a 25-year sentence after his 2023 conviction on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The conviction is currently on appeal, but last month, he filed a motion for a retrial, citing what he described as new evidence. Prosecutors have opposed the motion.

The March 22 filing comes after Judge Kaplan told Bankman-Fried’s mother, Barbara Fried, that she could not act on her son’s behalf, following her outreach to the court requesting additional time for him to file papers. Kaplan extended the deadline for Bankman-Fried or his attorneys to seek additional time until March 23, but emphasized that the court does not accept telephone calls or letters from family members.

Caroline Ellison, former co-CEO of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried’s ex-paramour, was released in January after nearly a year in federal custody. 

Ellison, 31, pled guilty in December 2022 to multiple counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. She testified against Bankman-Fried at his 2023 trial, detailing how Alameda had direct access to FTX customer deposits and operated with an unlimited line of credit.