Sam Bankman-Fried Tried to Get a New Trial — the Judge Wasn’t Having It

TLDR

• Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial on Tuesday
• Kaplan called the motion “a plan to rescue his reputation” and the claims “baseless”
• SBF argued three former FTX executives could prove the exchange was solvent
• The judge said SBF could have sought their testimony at trial but chose not to
• An appeal of his original conviction and 25-year sentence is still pending

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has had his request for a new trial rejected by a federal judge.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the original 2023 trial and sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison in early 2024, filed the order Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.

In February, Bankman-Fried filed the motion without consulting his lawyers. He also asked for Kaplan to be removed from the case, which the judge denied.

Last week, Bankman-Fried tried to withdraw the motion entirely. He told the judge he didn’t think he would get “a fair hearing” from him. Kaplan denied that request too.

The New Evidence Claims

Bankman-Fried argued that three former FTX executives could have provided testimony showing the exchange was solvent. He named Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX’s Bahamian arm, and Daniel Chapsky, FTX’s former head of data science.

He also pointed to Nishad Singh, FTX’s former engineering lead, claiming Singh changed his testimony “following threats from the government.”

Kaplan rejected all three arguments. He noted that none of the witnesses were “newly discovered” — Bankman-Fried knew all three before trial and knew what he hoped they would say.

Background on the Case

Salame pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money-transmitting business. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in May 2024.

Singh cut a plea deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time and testified against Bankman-Fried at the original trial.

The jury found he illegally moved billions of dollars of FTX customer funds to his trading firm Alameda Research to make risky trades, which contributed to FTX’s collapse.

Kaplan also took aim at Bankman-Fried’s media campaign, citing interviews with author Michael Lewis and commentator Tucker Carlson. He said the so-called new facts “have been seen before. Many times.”

Bankman-Fried has sought a pardon from President Donald Trump. Trump has said he has no plans to grant one.

Bankman-Fried is currently held at a federal prison in Lompoc, California. An appeal of his conviction and sentence remains pending.

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