Judge 'Sympathetic' To Bankman-Fried's Situation, But Rules FTX Co-Founder Must Remain In Detention

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan has expressed his sympathy on the current situation of Sam Bankman-Fried, the indicted co-founder of the now-defunct crypto empire FTX, but still ruled he should remain in jail during his trial.

Bankman-Fried's criminal trial will begin on Oct. 4.

Before denying the former crypto billionaire's request to be temporarily released from jail to prepare for the trial, Judge Kaplan said Bankman-Fried may face a "very long sentence" and that he could be a flight risk.

"Your client in the event of conviction could be looking at a very long sentence," the judge said during a hearing in Manhattan federal court Thursday. "If things begin to look bleak ... maybe the time would come when he would seek to flee."

Bankman-Fried's lawyer Mark Cohen responded that "nothing in the record" suggests the crypto mogul would try to flee, arguing his client voluntarily consented to extradition to the U.S. from the Bahamas after his arrest in December 2022.

Earlier this week, Bankman-Fried's lawyers asked the court to temporarily release their client so they could speak with him after every trial day and prepare for the next day – something they could not do if their client is taken back to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after every trial.

Judge Kaplan said he was sympathetic to the concerns raised by the defense and would make sure that Bankman-Fried would arrive in court at 7 a.m. on trial days to give him the chance to speak with his lawyers a few hours before the testimony starts.

Once regarded as the "golden boy of cryptocurrency," Bankman-Fried is currently facing seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of the crypto empire he founded. The charges bear a statutory maximum sentence of 110 years in prison, although the judge would determine the actual sentence based on several factors.

Last week, three judges of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan denied Bankman-Fried's bail request and upheld an earlier decision made by Kaplan, a court filing dated Sept. 21 revealed.

"The record supports the district court's conclusion that there was probable cause to believe that [Bankman-Fried] attempted to tamper with two witnesses ... and specifically that he acted with unlawful intent to influence those witnesses," appellate judges wrote in the ruling.