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Sam Bankman-Fried’s family, acquaintances, and former employees asked a judge Tuesday to give the fallen FTX founder a lenient sentence, arguing that he’s been incorrectly smeared as a greedy villain who now faces “extreme danger” in prison.
A total of 29 letters supporting the 31-year-old were submitted alongside a sentencing memorandum following the crypto mogul’s conviction for stealing $8 billion from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange. Marc Mukasey, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, urged U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to reject the “grotesque” and “barbaric” 100-year sentence recommended by a probation office.
Bankman-Fried, who had denied orchestrating one of the biggest financial frauds in corporate history, was convicted in November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. His sentencing is scheduled for March 28, but he has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since August.